Telephony services system with instant communications enhancements

ABSTRACT

An interactive telephony services system is provided with instant communications function. In accordance with some embodiments, presence information related to the availability of a called party to be contacted via instant communications affects the handling of telephone calls to the called party. In accordance with some embodiments, a telephone call may be connected to an instant communications client used by a called party.

PRIORITY CLAIM AND CROSS-REFERENCE

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/369,271, filed Apr. 2, 2002, entitled“Chat-Accessible Services in a Communication System,” assigned to theassignee of the present application and incorporated herein by referenceits entirety.

The present application is also related to the following co-pendingapplications, which are assigned to the assignee of the presentapplication and incorporated herein by reference in their entireties:

-   -   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/404,110, filed concurrently        herewith and entitled “Billing System for Services Provided via        Instant Communications;”    -   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/404,111, filed concurrently        herewith and entitled “Messaging Response System;”    -   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/404,113, filed concurrently        herewith and entitled “Communications Gateway with Messaging        Communications Interface;”    -   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/404,093, filed concurrently        herewith and entitled “Media Translator;”    -   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/404,104, filed concurrently        herewith and entitled “Billing System for Communications        Services involving Telephony and Instant Communications;”    -   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/404,330, filed concurrently        herewith and entitled “Call Completion via Instant        Communications Client;”    -   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10,404,079, filed concurrently        herewith and entitled “Enhanced Services Call Completion;”and    -   U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/404,541, filed concurrently        herewith and entitled “Providing of Presence Information to a        Telephony Services System.”

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to communications systems and methods andmore particularly to facilitating the establishment of communicationsamong users of communications systems.

BACKGROUND

A conmunications system serves to transport information among users oramong points served by the system. One way to maximize the usefulness ofa communications system is to facilitate the establishment ofcommunications among users of the system. As one party seeks tocommunicate with another party, this may involve assisting in obtainingcontact information for a given user or destination, or providing avariety of methods by which communication may be arranged.

For example, in a telephone network, a large proportion of calls arecompleted by direct dialing from one telephone to another. However,further effectiveness is achieved by the offering of interactiveoperator services or “enhanced services” to facilitate communicationsamong parties. In some cases, enhanced services may be provided to helpa caller by locating a telephone number for a called party or byconnecting the caller to the called party. An enhanced service may alsoallow a caller to exercise a broad range of billing arrangements, suchas calling card billing, billing to subscriber account numbers andcollect calling.

To access an enhanced service in a telephony network, a caller may diala telephone number such as ‘0’ for an operator or ‘1-800-COLLECT’™ toreach a collect call platform or yet another number to reach a prepaidcalling card platform. Through interaction with an automated VRU or ahuman operator in an enhanced services call processing platform, thecaller typically provides information by voice or by in-band DTMF tonesto convey the nature of service desired, to specify a called party, andto pass along information relevant to billing and authentication.

The offering of enhanced services is beneficial to a commercial serviceprovider at least because increased call completion leads to increasedbillable usage of the system. The service provider may also seek tooffer differentiating services to attract business or realize anadditional revenue by charging fees for the use of such services.

Especially with the advent of newer types of communication, furthermeasures are required to enhance the effectiveness of a communicationsystem as parties seek to communicate with one another. In particular,it is desirable to maximize the ease with which one party is able tocommunicate with another party through whatever means are available. Fora variety of reasons, a called party may not be reachable at aparticular telephone number or may simply prefer to engage in othermodes of communication rather than by phone.

SUMMARY

The present invention addresses the need to increase the flexibility andease with which parties may establish communications. As will bedescribed, the present invention achieves advantages in establishingcommunications despite the increased use of multiple, and oftendisparate, modes of communication such as telephony and instantmessaging.

One aspect of the present invention relates to a method and system ofprocessing a telephone call to a called party, in which a telephone calloriginated by a calling party from a telephone is received, and thetelephone call to the called party is completed via a text-based instantmessaging session. This may be especially desirable to parties alreadyengaged in voice communications with others but who are willing and ableto simultaneously carry on text chat communications. This capability mayalso increase completion of calls to parties who do not havevoice-enabled messaging clients and audio hardware.

Another aspect of the present invention involves a method of processinga telephone call to a called party, in which a telephone call originatedby a calling party is received, a presence identifier of the calledparty is obtained, and then the telephone call is coupled forinteractive communications with the called party based on the presenceidentifier. Examples of the presence identifier include: screen name, analias, a handle, an electronic pseudonym, a chat identifier, an addressof some nature, and an instant message identifier. The presenceidentifier is a handle that can be used to query a server fordetermining a communications state of the called party, indicating atleast whether the called party is available to accept delivery ofinstant communications.

In various embodiments, the presence identifier may correspond to anytype of identifier associated with the called party and can be obtained,for example, by prompting the calling party for the presence identifierand receiving the presence identifier over the telephone call.Alternatively, the caller may provide a telephone number, e-mail addressor other identifier of the called party, whereupon a database may beconsulted to obtain a presence identifier corresponding to theidentifier provided by the caller.

Yet another aspect of the present invention pertains to a method andsystem for completing a telephone call to a called party, in which atelephone call originated by a calling party is received and, afterdetermining that the called party is online and available for acceptingdelivery of instant communications, an instant communication session isinitiated between the calling party and the called party. The instantcommunication session can be any session in which messages are deliveredat a rate capable of supporting an interactive session, such as a chatsession, a voice-enabled chat session, an instant messaging session, anInternet Relay Chat session, and setting up a Voice-over-IP (VoIP)session between the calling party and the called party.

Still another aspect of the present invention includes a method ofprocessing a telephone call to a called party, comprising: receiving atelephone call originated by a calling party; obtaining a telephonenumber of the called party; and attempting to reach the called party atthe telephone number. If the called party is not reached at thetelephone number, then the method includes: obtaining a presenceidentifier corresponding to the called party; and connecting thetelephone call to the called party via an instant communications clientbased on the presence identifier.

In other aspects of embodiments of the invention, human or automatedrelay services for deaf, blind and people with other forms ofdisabilities can be provided to augment and provide additional serviceofferings and telecommunications services for people with disabilities.For example, when a called party is accessible only by textual chat, ablind person wanting to communicate with the called party via chat mustfind another party willing to help with the communication or seek out acomputer workstation or the like equipped with a chat client and speechsynthesis capabilities. Implementations of the present invention allow ablind person to use any telephone connected to the traditional publictelephone network to interact with another party who is at that timeavailable on, or using, a textual-based instant messaging system. Thiscapability may be provided without requiring or burdening relay systemsthat are used by the deaf to perform textual communications. In someaspects, the invention can significantly simplify the ability of suchusers to participate in new and emerging forms of instantcommunications.

In another aspect, embodiments of the present invention can beintegrated with billing services to provide a flexible arrangement forcharging and recovering costs of providing instant messaging services.

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention sets forth, in acommunication system, a device acting to establish communications. Thedevice comprises a telephony interface acting to communicate with afirst party via a telephone call, a interactive response station actingto conduct an interactive session with the first party via the telephonecall, a presence interface acting to obtain presence informationpertaining to a second party, and a bearer channel interface operablycoupled to an instant communications client associated with the secondparty, the bearer channel interface acting to establish communicationsbetween the first and second parties responsive to at least one of theinteractive session and the presence information.

Another exemplary embodiment of the present invention sets forth, in acommunication system, a device operable to establish communications. Thedevice comprises telephony interface means for communicating with afirst party via a telephone call, interactive response means forconducting an interactive session with the first party via the telephonecall, presence determining means for obtaining presence informationpertaining to a second party, and bearer channel interface meansoperably coupled to an instant communications client associated with thesecond party, wherein the bearer channel interface means establishescommunications between the first and second parties responsive to atleast one of the interactive session and the presence information.

In yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention a voiceprocessing system is set forth for providing service to parties in acommunications system. The voice processing system comprises means forreceiving, from a first party using a telephone device, a request toestablish communications with a second party, means for obtaining, froma presence-determining element, presence information related to theavailability of the second party to engage in communications wherein thepresence information is already maintained in the presence-determiningelement before the receiving the request, and means for responding tothe request to establish communications with the second party responsiveat least to the presence information.

In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a method isset forth for providing service in a communications system. The methodcomprises, from a first party using a telephone device, a request toestablish communications with a second party is received. Next, from apresence-determining element, presence information related to theavailability of the second party to engage in communications isobtained, wherein the presence information is already maintained in thepresence-determining element before the receiving the request. Next, therequest to establish communications with the second party is respondedto, responsive at least to the presence information.

Another exemplary embodiment of the present invention sets forth, acomputer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed bya processor, perform a method of providing service to parties in acommunications system. The method comprises receiving, from a firstparty using a telephone device, a request to establish communicationswith a second party, obtaining, from a presence-determining element,presence information related to the availability of the second party toengage in communications wherein the presence information is alreadymaintained in the presence-determining element before the receiving therequest, and responding to the request to establish communications withthe second party responsive at least to the presence information.

Another exemplary embodiment of the present invention sets forth a voiceprocessing system for providing service to parties in a communicationssystem. The voice processing system comprising means for receiving, froma first party using a telephone device, a request to establishcommunications with a second party, means for obtaining, from apresence-determining element, presence information related to theavailability of the second party to engage in communications using aninstant communications client, and means for responding to the requestto establish communications with the second party responsive at least tothe presence information.

Yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention sets forth amethod of providing service in a communications system. The methodcomprising receiving a request from a first party using a telephonedevice to establish communications with a second party, obtainingpresence information, from a presence-determining element, related tothe availability of the second party to engage in communications usingan instant communications client, and responding to the request toestablish communications with the second party responsive at least tothe presence information.

Another exemplary embodiment of the present invention sets forth acomputer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed bya processor, perform a method for providing service to parties in acommunications system. The method comprises receiving, from a firstparty using a telephone device, a request to establish communicationswith a second party, obtaining, from a presence-determining element,presence information related to the availability of the second party toengage in communications using an instant communications client, andresponding to the request to establish communications with the secondparty responsive at least to the presence information.

Still other aspects, features, and advantages of the present inventionwill be readily apparent from the following detailed description, simplyby illustrating a number of particular embodiments and implementations,including the best mode contemplated for carrying out the presentinvention. The present invention is also capable of other and differentembodiments, and its several details can be modified in various obviousrespects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. Accordingly, the drawing and description are to be regardedas illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by wayof limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in whichlike reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a communication network in accordance with one embodimentof the present invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B together depict a call-flow diagram of a presence-basedcall completion session with calling party termination in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 3A and 3B together depict a call-flow diagram of a presence-basedcall completion session with called party termination in accordance withone embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4A and 4B together depict a call-flow diagram of a presence-basedcall completion session with calling party re-origination in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 5A and 5B together depict a call-flow diagram of apresence-assisted, Voice-over-IP call completion session in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 depicts a computer system that can be used to implement anembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 7A-7D depict a process by which an enhanced services system mayoffer a caller an option of communicating to a messaging client of acalled party in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 8A-8D depict a process by which a caller may contact an enhancedservices system to establish communications to a messaging client of acalled party in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIGS. 9A-9D depict a process by which an unanswered call may be handledby an enhanced services system to offer a caller an option ofcommunicating to a messaging client of a called party in accordance withan exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT

Systems, methods and computer-implemented processes for call processingare described. In the following description, for the purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the present invention. It is apparent,however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may bepracticed without these specific details or with an alternativeequivalent arrangement. In other instances, well-known structures anddevices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring the present invention.

The present invention addresses the need to increase the flexibility andease with which parties may establish communications. As will now bedescribed using several exemplary embodiments, the present inventionachieves advantages in establishing communications despite the increaseduse of multiple, and often disparate, modes of communication such astelephony and instant messaging.

An alternative form of communications popularized in recent years ismessaging communications. Messaging communications are generallycharacterized by a communicating party determining a finite amount ofinformation to be sent as a message. Messaging communications typicallyinvolve one or more discrete messages sent by a party to one or moreother parties. A message may comprise text, data or digitized audio orvideo information, for example, or even combinations of these.Electronic mail (e-mail) and text paging are forms of messagingcommunications.

In contrast to messaging, other forms of communications, such astelephony, enable a period of essentially continuous (and usually fullduplex) two-way conversation between parties in the context of a singlesession or connection. As in the example of telephony, the partiesgenerally only determine the time duration of the overall session andare not engaged in composing and sending messages of a specific size.

‘Instant messaging’ refers to messaging communications wherein thedelays in readying the message for delivery (such as addressing to arecipient), transporting the message, and bringing the message to theattention of the recipient are sufficiently short or imperceptible thatparties may communicate in a nearly conversational manner. In the caseof a form of instant communications known as ‘text chat’ sessions, theconversational pace is often limited mainly by the time it takes forchat participants to compose and finalize messages to be transmitted.The acceptable margin of delay in message transmission may be on adifferent scale than for the end-to-end delay margins in telephonecommunications, but the objectionable impact of excess delay onperceived fluency of communications is a common detriment to both modesof communication.

Instant messaging may be considered a type of instant communications.Some popular applications that are commonly used for instant messaginginclude, for example, America Online (AOL) Instant Messenger™(hereinafter AIM), Yahoo!® Messenger and MSN® Messenger. The presentinvention is not limited to embodiments using these specificapplications, technologies or services and maybe applied in the contextof private or semi-private messaging systems such as a system usedwithin an enterprise, company, or otherwise isolated or segregated usercommunity.

In one sense, ‘instant communications’ may refer to a style ofcommunicating wherein the communicating parties experience substantiallyimmediate establishment of communications on a per-message basis. In thecontext of instant messaging, a selection may be initially made by afirst party to open a dialog with a specific second party. Thereafter,the parties may spontaneously generate and send messages without havingto address each message or perform other steps preparatory to thesending of each message.

Furthermore, the term “instant communications” may be applicable in thesense of there being no user-perceivable session establishment as eachmessage is sent, even though each message is in fact sent as a briefburst of information transmission activity through the network. At somelevel, each transmission burst may be handled as a separatecommunications session.

The user does not have to engage in per-message establishment of asession, if applicable, nor is any significant delay perceived by theuser arising from automatic session initiation that might be brieflyperformed at some level through, for example, a TCP/IP connection. Inone regard, then, the instancy of instant communications may be viewedas relating to the performance of session initiation and addressingwithout burdening the user and with sufficiently little delay as to beminimally perceptible or inconsequential to the user.

Instant communications may also be ‘instant’ in the sense that, when amessage is composed and sent, it is fairly immediately routed to adestination, such as an instant messaging client. As a message iscomposed and sent, the sending party may be provided with someindication that the destination is ready to receive messages or at leasthas recently claimed to be open to receiving messages. This forehandknowledge may be provided by presence technology described below. Exceptfor very brief queueing in data buffers in routers and transmissionequipment in the course of transmission, the message is notsubstantially stored anywhere in the network for the purpose of beingdelivered to the recipient at a later time or at a time determined bythe recipient.

This instantaneous handling of messages may be contrasted to a typicale-mail system, wherein a message is often stored in a repository for asignificant time period waiting for the recipient mail clientapplication to poll for new mail items to download from the mail server.An electronic mail message may be stored on an e-mail server for a timeduration of less than a minute or for several hours, several days oreven indefinitely.

After polling a mail server and downloading any new messages, an e-mailclient typically terminates communication with the mail server until afuture time when the mail client again polls the server. The polling maybe triggered by a time interval setting or by manual request from auser. Between such polling times, the mail server or service merelystores messages.

Another characteristic typical of instant communications is immediatepresentation of the message content to the receiving party upon arrivalof the message. A message received by an instant messaging client isimmediately presented, such as in a window in a graphical user interfaceon a display device, or otherwise made known to the receiving party. Theuser is not required to take any action to receive or initiate deliveryof each message that arrives. Message reception and presentation isautomatic and immediate.

In contrast to electronic mail clients, it is generally unnecessary ininstant communications for the user to poll a server either manually orautomatically at certain time intervals, nor is the user require to takeadditional action, as there is with “opening” an e-mail, to have thecontent displayed. Furthermore, unlike an e-mail ‘inbox’ stored as afile in a nonvolatile storage device, there is typically no systematicstoring of the received message at the receiving end for the purpose ofpresenting the message to the recipient for the first time at a timesubstantially later than it was received.

Instant communications may refer to any communications involving aninstant communications client, such as an instant messaging clientapplication running on a computer. An instant communications client maybe an embedded application as embodied in a personal digital assistant(PDA), mobile phone or other portable device. An instant communicationsclient may support instant messaging, such as text-based chat. Aninstant communications client may also support audio communicationshaving little enough delay to enable interaction among communicatingparties in a nearly conversational style. As a mode of communication,instant communications may be contrasted to toll-quality telephony,which provides full-duplex communications with any transmission delaybeing mostly attributable to propagation (at electronic speeds) and tovocoder signal processing delays. Users of text messaging andvoice-enabled instant communications clients in conjunction with datatransport networks may experience greater delays or less reliabletransport than by a telephony mode of communication. Nevertheless, manyusers find instant communications to be adequate, more cost effective,and even preferable to more traditional telephony in some circumstances.The ‘instant’ quality of such communications achieves much more of areal-time interactive nature than paging or e-mail modes ofcommunication.

An instant communications client may further enhance this communicationsby including or being coupled with technology that conveys thecapabilities, personality, intent or other meaningful characteristics ofthe communications user. For example conversion of text into speechwhich reflects age, gender, language, accents, dialects and converselyconverting speech into text or graphics that may also represent the sametypes of attributes.

In many implementations, instant communication is complemented by“presence” technology—a mechanism through which parties receive timelyinformation about the availability of others to communicate. A presenceservice acts as an intermediary through which a party may expressavailability to communicate and may be informed about the availabilityof other parties. A description of presence technology may be found indocument RFC 2778 of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

Presence technology facilitates instant messaging and supports theperceived instantaneous nature thereof. Indeed, one of the keymotivations for applying presence techniques in the context of instantmessaging is that, as described above, there is typically very littlestorage of messages for later delivery to a recipient. Consequently, itis often useful for a sending party to know, before assembling andsending messages, whether the messages are likely to be received orpresented to the recipient in a timely manner. In the experience of thesending party, presence technology can be a factor affecting one'sexpectation or perception of instancy. To a party intending to send amessage, presence technology attempts to provide awareness of theavailability status of the intended recipient (or at least the readinessstate of the recipient's instant communications client) beforecommunications are sent to the recipient. When a sending party doesobserve or otherwise determine that a recipient is present via presencetechnology, the party may then confidently send communications andreasonably expect that the transmitting and presenting the message tothe recipient will be immediate or nearly instantaneous. Presencediffers from, for example, the placing of a collect call in thatpresence information for a party is often maintained before the time itis actually needed in the context of someone communicating with theparty.

In general, presence technology is intended to provide an up-to-dateindication of the presence of other parties. Of course, availabilityinformation for a party may be subject to change and to the party'sdesire to accept communications. The timeliness of availabilityinformation may also vary depending on implementation. A prospectivesender of communications usually does not need to perform additionalactions to ascertain presence of other parties at any point in time,such as immediately before sending a message. Instead, as in manyinstant messaging client applications, presence state of a group ofaddressees is constantly updated and indicated on a user interface. Thisself-updating aspect of some presence implementations further lends tothe instancy and spontaneity with which users may initiate and carry oninstant communications.

In the present description, a first party or user originatingcommunications may be referred to as a “caller” or “calling party.”Likewise, a second party being sought by the first party may be referredto as a “called party.” For convenience, this familiar terminology isborrowed from traditional telephony. However, it should be understoodthat the present invention is applicable in the context of othercommunications systems and the use of these terms should not imply thatit is constrained to conventional telephony in any way. A telephonenetwork is but one type of communication system wherein enhancedservices may be applied to increase the overall usefulness andeffectiveness of service provided. It will be appreciated that theprinciples of the present invention may be usefully applied in othercontexts.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the present inventionenables, as an alternative form of communication, the establishment ofcommunications between a caller who is using a telephone and a calledparty who is using an instant communications client, such as an instantmessaging client.

In accordance with a first exemplary usage scenario, the caller maycontact an enhanced services platform by phone and express a desire toreach a particular party. By virtue of various aspects of the presentinvention, the enhanced services platform is able to offer the callerthe option of communicating to the called party via voice communicationsor textual messaging through the called party's instant communicationsclient. An example of voice communications to an instant communicationclient is depicted in a commonly owned patent application, U.S.application Ser. No. 09/858,256, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety. In the latter case of textual messaging,speech-to-text and text-to-speech translating processes may be providedso that the caller's speech can be translated into a textual instantmessage that is sent to the called party and an instant message sentfrom the called party can be translated into synthesized speech. Thisfunction can also be provided by a human operator, creating, in essence,a human relay.

In accordance with a second exemplary usage scenario, the caller maycontact the enhanced services platform by dialing a specific telephonenumber, such as ‘1-800-GET-CHAT’, to signify the intent to contact acalled party's instant communications client in preference to otheralternatives that may be available at the time of the call.

In accordance with a third exemplary usage scenario, the caller mayattempt a telephone call to a called party by dialing the called party'stelephone number in the traditional manner. Upon recognition by someelement of the telephone system or the enhanced services system that thecall is busy or is unanswered, the caller may be connected to theenhanced services platform. The enhanced services platform may offer thecaller alternative ways of reaching the called party, including textualmessaging or voice communications with the instant communications clientof the called party as enabled by aspects of the present invention.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention,presence-determining aspects of instant communications technology areadvantageously employed by an enhanced services platform to furtherimprove the usefulness of the service provided. In the course ofassisting a calling party seeking to initiate communications with acalled party, the enhanced services platform may ascertain the currentavailability or a “presence state” indicating whether the called partyis available to communicate via an instant communications client. In thevarious usage scenarios described above, the presence information isused by the enhanced services platform to determine, for example,whether to offer instant communications as an alternative to a caller.

In addition to providing flexibility in how communications areestablished, it is also desirable to maximize the convenience andusefulness of a commercial communications service by offering a widevariety of payment arrangements. For example, by allowing billing to acredit card or similar impromptu arrangements, a service provider mayadvantageously accept business even from users who are not subscribersto the service. This allows for casual access by the general public andprovides revenue opportunities beyond formal pre-subscribed or prepaidarrangements, while also increasing the effectiveness and usefulness ofthe publicly available communications system or a private communicationssystem.

Some aspects of the present invention also advantageously allow forefficiency in the use of ‘numbering’ (as in telephone networks) or othertypes of address space resources in a communications system, as well asflexibility in how a called party is specified.

This consideration of numbering space in telephone networks is ofgrowing importance. Traditional numbering plans applied to telephony,such as the North American Numbering Plan, were initially structuredbased on geographical location and the need to achieve automatic routingof calls among switches in the early telephone network. More recently,the inevitable exhaust of the all of the available numbers according tothis plan has been accelerated by the increase in users requiringmultiple telephone numbers and multiple telephone lines. For a giventelephone subscriber, these multiple numbers or lines often include bothhome and business telephones, facsimile machines, wireless phones andseparate dial-up modem connections.

Accordingly, it is advantageous in one aspect to provide a singleidentifier corresponding to a given user, whereby contact made using thesingle identifier, such as a single telephone number, provides access toseveral modes of communications and perhaps several alternativelocations at which the user may be reached. For similar reasons, it isfurther desirable to implement a communications system whereinidentifiers other than, or in addition to, a conventionally structuredtelephone number may be used to specify a desired called party. Thismeasure dramatically increases the ‘address space’ from which to selectidentifiers. Where a communications system is accessed directly by humanusers, it may also be advantageous to employ identifiers that are of atextual or spoken nature, rather than numbers, that are more akin tonatural language and are easier to mentally associate with a party.

Coupled with the issues above, it may be preferable to provide access toa service through a single address, telephone number or other form ofidentifier that is easy for users to remember and associate with theservice. This practice may provide advantages in advertising andencouraging use of the service.

Finally, the combination of these practices essentially provides for asingle number by which a vast number of called parties may be addressedand reached, with the further advantage that the called party addressingused within the system need not correspond to telephone numbers at all.Thus, one may view the teachings of the present invention asadvantageously dealing with the telephony-related number exhaust problemin at least two ways.

In addition to the above measures, it may be desirable to employ acontact number or address such that the very act of the user accessingthe service via the specific contact number signifies or implies to theservice some aspect of how the user wants to be served. In accordancewith a preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thedialing of a predetermined telephone number signifies the caller'spreference to initiate messaging communications as a preferred mode overother available modes.

In some instances, it may be desirable or advantageous to employ asystem wherein a single called party may be known by multiple types ofidentifiers or aliases, perhaps so that parties wishing to reach thecalled party may employ whichever handle or identifier is mostconvenient. In a suitable embodiment, a caller may be able to use any ofa variety of identifiers, aliases or addresses to specify the party theyare trying to contact. Some examples of identifiers for a party includename, street address, telephone number, e-mail address, chat screenname, alias or ‘handle’, alphanumeric pattern, network address, uniformresource identifier (URI), uniform resource locator (URL), accountnumber, spoken utterance, etc.

Taking the approach further, it is possible for a party to be associatedwith multiple aliases even of the same type. This may be useful from thestandpoint of the called party being able to independently manageinbound “traffic” from various groups of originators. For example, auser may provide to casual acquaintances one alias for communicationwhile giving close friends and family members a different alias to beused.

In the context of user aliases, it is particularly noteworthy that, inaccordance with a preferred exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, a party may be identified using an instant messaging ‘screenname’ or the like, perhaps in addition to other identifiers such asgiven name, telephone number or account number. A caller may specify adesired party by providing a screen name by which the called party isknown in an instant messaging system. An enhanced services platform maycomprehend the screen name and facilitate contacting the correspondingcalled party by instant messaging or other means.

These advantages and desirable features, as well as the exemplary usagescenarios mentioned above, may be realized and demonstrated in thesystem of FIG. 1 which will now be described.

Network Overview

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communications system 100 in which anexemplary embodiment of the present invention can be implemented. Asillustrated, a calling party 101 is capable of communicating, such as bya telephone connection, with a voice processing system (VPS) 103typically by dialing a telephone number using a telephone 102 viatelephone network 80 in order to reach a called party telephone 138.Telephone network 80 may include, for example, the Public SwitchedTelephone Network (PSTN) to which VPS 103 is interfaced. However, thepresent invention is not limited to the use of telephones and the PublicSwitched Telephone Network by the calling party 101, because the callingparty 101 may use other means to connect to the voice processing system,including mobile telephones, internet telephones, packet telephonyclients, etc.

VPS 103 may be an interactive voice processing system that providesoperator services, which can be performed manually by a human operator,automatically by interactive voice response (IVR) implemented bycomputer processing in a telephony server, or by a combination of manualand automatic interaction. Both types of interactive respondent arerepresented in FIG. 1 by operator 52. Typically, a VPS 103 will comprisea plurality of operator stations or ‘interactive response stations’.Traditional examples of operator services are directory assistance andoperator-assisted call placement. In the course of providing varioustypes of operator services, VPS 103 may elicit information from callingparty 101, furnish confirmation or prompting to calling party 101, andprovide information to calling party 101. In fulfillment of someservices, voice processing system 103 may also control, or at leastinitiate, the completion of a call from calling party 101 to calledparty 137. The call may be completed in accordance with the informationprovided directly by the calling party 101 or obtained from variousdatabases, such as directories (not shown), accessible to the voiceprocessing system 103 based on information from the calling party 101.

In accordance with a typical usage scenario, calling party 101 uses atelephone 102 to establish contact with a called party 137. In the caseof, for example, a collect call, a calling card call or aoperator-assisted call, calling party 101 may contact VPS 103 as anintermediary to establish the call. Calling party 101 may know thetelephone number of a called party telephone 138 associated with calledparty 137 and may want to arrange alternate billing through VPS 103rather than call phone 138 directly. Otherwise, calling party 101 maynot know the telephone number of phone 138 and may have operator 52assist in finding the telephone number. Called party 137 may beaccessible via called party client 139 rather than phone 138 and, inaccordance with an advantageous aspect of the present invention as willbe shown, VPS 103 may assist the calling party 101 in making contactwith the called party 137 despite this situation.

For practical reasons, VPS 103 is often coupled to telephone network 80through a bridging switch 54. Bridging switch 54 allows an operator 52to establish a call among parties in a telephone network and then beremoved from the call. Thereafter, the connection among the parties ismaintained by the action of bridging switch 54 even after the operatoris released. This avoids burdening the VPS resources with having tomaintain the connection for the duration of the call. To achieve thisadvantage, a special type of trunk, known as a release link trunk 55, isused between bridging switch 54 and VPS 103. This arrangement using abridging switch is well-known among those of ordinary skill in the artand is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,150.

Bridging switch 54 may be considered to be separate from or integratedwith VPS 103. In practice, bridging switch 54 is often physicallyseparate from VPS 103 yet bridging switch 54 is often owned by orcontrolled by the entity that owns and controls VPS 103, so bridgingswitch 54 may be regarded by some, in a sense, to be part of the serviceproviding system of VPS 103.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention,information accessible to voice processing system 103 or provided bycalling party 101 may include the telephone number associated withcalled party 137 (that of telephone 138) or a presence identifier forcalled party 137. A presence identifier is a symbolic identifierassociated with the party and referring to the party. The presenceidentifier can be used in querying a server (referred to as a “presenceserver”) or other form of presence-determining process for determining acommunications state of the party. The communications state, or“presence state”, indicates at least whether or not the party isavailable to accept delivery of preferably instant communications.Examples of instant communications include instant messages, chatmessages, voice-enabled chat, internet relay chat (IRC), voice overInternet Protocol (IP), and any other messages delivered at a ratecapable of supporting an interactive session. In contrast to thestore-and-forward approach of electronic mail, the delivery of thesetypes of instant communications is substantially immediate, enablingparties to communicate in a nearly conversational style and pace.Accordingly, a presence identifier can include any of a screen name, ahandle, an alias, an electronic pseudonym, a logical or physical addressof some nature, a chat identifier, and an instant message identifier.

VPS 103 is coupled, via connection 10, to an intelligent presencegateway (IPG) 105 for handling the presence-related processing of thecall from the calling party 101. Connection 10 may be implemented as aninterface coupling VPS 103 and IPG 105 using a mutually understoodprotocol. In this manner, VPS 103 and IPG 105 may be manufacturedseparately yet properly interoperate when connected together in aworking installation. As used herein, an ‘interface’ refers to acoupling through which entities engage in some form of interaction, suchas the communicating of information from one to another. From thestandpoint of IPG 105, connection 10 may be indicative of a voiceprocessing system interface for passing control information. Likewise,with respect to VPS 103, this interface to IPG 105 may be regarded as apresence interface by which VPS 103 may receive presence information andother control information. Along connection 10, voice processing system103 may request and obtain a communications state for called party 137from IPG 105. As part of a request, voice processing system 103 mayspecify a particular called party 137 by using a presence identifierassociated with called party 137, if known, or by using a telephonenumber or other index adequately specifying called party 137.Alternatively, voice processing system 103 may obtain a presenceidentifier for called party 137 from IPG 105 in response to a requestspecifying the called party 137 by other means, such as by a telephonenumber.

The intelligent presence gateway 105 can be implemented by a computersystem executing one or more processes relating to specific aspects ofpresence-based call processing. These processes may include acapabilities process 107, a watcher process 109, a fetcher process 111,a sender process 113, and a receiver process 115. Although all of thesecomponents are labeled and illustrated in FIG. 1 as separate processes,this separation is merely functional. The present invention is notlimited to implementing each of the logical processes as separatephysical processes, and the illustrated processes may be combined intoone or more larger processes or implemented by threads or other forms ofprocedural control flows. Each function represented by processes 107through 115 may also be distributed among multiple instances andmultiple physical computing systems in a manner well understood by thoseof ordinary skill in the art.

As one form of capabilities-determining process, capabilities process107 can be provided to query a capabilities server 117 for determiningwhat kinds of communications the called party 137, or more particularlycalled party client 139, can handle. Capabilities process 107 may becommunicably linked, via connection 20, to a capabilities server 117 orcapabilities process 107 may subsume the function of capabilities server117. For example, the capabilities server 117 may be a subscriberdatabase that includes attributes—and information such as a previouslyregistered presence identifier for the subscriber and which kinds ofcommunication means the subscriber has for accepting instant messages,voice-enabled chat messages, voice-over-IP communications, and the like.The capabilities server 117 may also store this information inassociation with the subscriber's telephone number so that the operatorservices of the voice processing system 103 can obtain the presenceidentifier of a subscriber based on the telephone number of the calledparty 137. Capabilities server 117 may also express preferences onbehalf of called party 137, such as preferred modes of communicationsthat should be attempted before other modes.

Both the watcher process 109 and the fetcher process 111 are configuredfor obtaining presence information, including the communications stateof the called party 137, from a presence server 119 via connections 22and 24. A presence server 119 is preferably implemented as a computersystem that furnishes the presence services described in InternetEngineering Task Force (IETF) document RFC-2778 or similarspecifications. Examples of publicly or commercially available instantmessaging services providing presence functionality include AMERICAON-LINE™, YAHOO™, etc. Alternatively, presence server 119, instantmessaging server 121 and called party client 139 may represent elementsof proprietary, private or semi-private messaging systems which, forexample, are operated within a business enterprise or organization.Typically, users make their on-line presence known by registering theircommunication state with the presence server 119. Specifically, when auser logs in using a messaging client somewhere on the Internet,corporate intranets, or other similar networks, the user effectivelyregisters with the presence server 119 that the user is available, andwhen the user logs out, the user registers with the presence server 119that the user is unavailable.

In FIG. 1, called party client 139 represents a communications device,such as a computing device running a communications application, whereinan instant communications client of this type may operate. Called partyclient 139 may be communicably coupled to instant messaging server 121via connection 32 and may be communicably coupled to presence server 30via connection 30.

Connections 30 and 32 may be realized through a data transport network,such as the Internet, and need not be permanent or persistentconnections. Connections 30 and 32 may be implemented through network133, which may be the public Internet or an intranet or some other formof network.

Fetcher process 111 is configured to query the presence server 119 forthe communications state of a specific called party 137 as referenced bya given presence identifier. Accordingly, the fetcher process 111 can beused to obtain the communication state of a called party 137 who may ormay not be pre-subscribed to the operator services of the voiceprocessing system 103. If, for implementation-dependent reasons, it isnot desirable to maintain a list of subscribers by the watcher process109, the fetcher process 111 can be used to obtain the communicationstate of the called party 137 as needed, whether or not the intelligentpresence gateway 105 or a system accessible to the intelligent presencegateway 105 has prior knowledge of the called party 137.

As an alternative to fetcher process 111, which obtains presenceinformation as needed, a watcher process 109 may be used to obtainnotifications from presence server 119. Watcher process 109 may submit alist of presence identifiers of subscribers to the presence server 119.For example, these subscribers may be pre-subscribed customers of thecompany that provides the enhanced services, e.g. the company providingthe operator services at the voice processing system 103. Afterreceiving the list of parties of interest to watcher process 109,presence server 119 notifies watcher process 109 of any changes incommunication state for the listed parties. Consequently, the watcherprocess 109 is able to keep track of the latest communication state ofany of the subscribers in the list and be prepared to provide suchinformation to VPS 103. The watcher process 109 may also poll thepresence server 119 for updates to the presence information in the listof presence identifiers.

Instant messaging server 121 is a form of instant messaging server (orservice) facilitating messaging communications among parties. The senderprocess 113 and the receiver process 115 are configured forcommunicating with an instant messaging server 121 via connections 26and 28, respectively. Specifically, the sender process 113 is configuredto transmit messages to the instant messaging server 121, and thereceiver process 115 is configured to receive messages from the instantmessaging server 121. Multiple sender processes 113 and receiverprocesses 115 may be running on the intelligent presence gateway 105,each one being spawned for a particular corresponding enhanced servicessession. With respect to instant messaging server 121, IPG 105 may beindistinguishable in behavior from other instant messaging participantsusing the server. Sender process 113, receiver process 115 andconnections 26 and 28 are indicative of an instant messaging interfacefor IPG 105 or other elements of FIG. 1.

Preferably, the instant messaging server 121 may be implemented as acomputer system that furnishes the instant message services described inIETF document RFC-2778 or similar recommendations. Instant messagingserver 121 may be private or publicly available and may be commercial ornon-commercial. The role of instant messaging server 121 may befulfilled by popular instant message services supplied by AMERICAON-LINE™, YAHOO™, etc. As another example, the instant messaging server121 can be a server that provides Internet Relay Chat (IRC). Preferably,the instant messaging server 121 is capable of both text-based messagingand voice-enabled messaging. Alternatively, in accordance with someimplementations of instant messaging, instant messaging server 121 mayonly be involved in establishing initial contact among conversingparties, with subsequent messaging taking place directly between theparties, such as between called party client 139 and receiver process115, without going through server 121. It is also feasible that thefunctions of instant messaging server 121 can be implemented by acomputer system at the called party client 139 in what may be referredto as a peer-to-peer messaging system.

Both the intelligent presence gateway 105, via connection 14, and voiceprocessing system 103, via connection 12, are coupled to a billingsystem 123 for recording service and session events that allow theenhanced services presence-based call completion to be charged on aper-call, per-message, per event, per minute, or other per-unit of timeor data basis. Of course, services may also be provided on asubscription basis or at a flat rate, or even billed according to acombination of basic rates and usage-based charges. The billing system123 may also be used by the voice processing system 103 to ascertainwhether there are billing restrictions on the enhanced services, forexample, to prevent fraudulent calls or calls using stolen credit cards,or to block certain types of calls such as those originating from aparticular number or facility. The telephone network 80, VoIP Gateway131, and IP Network 133 may also be coupled to the billing system 123.

Another component of the network 100 is an intelligent informationtranslator (IIX) 125, which can be integrated with the intelligentpresence gateway 105 or be implemented on a standalone server. Theintelligent information translator 125 is applied for establishingcommunications among calling party 101 employing voice over telephone102 and called party 137 who is using textual messaging via called partyclient 139. In some embodiments, the functions and components of thevoice-over-IP gateway 131 or the voice processing system 103 may beintegrated with the intelligent information translator 125.

Furthermore, the intelligent information translator 125, in response tointeraction with the intelligent presence gateway 105, initiates andexecutes a speech-to-text process or thread 127 and a text-to-speechprocess or thread 129 for translating among speech signals associatedwith the telephone connection and textual information associated withthe instant messaging session.

As used herein, “speech” may, in a broader sense, also includenon-spoken audible signals such as tones, signals or sounds which havemeaning or significance that is commonly recognized or at least mutuallyagreed upon among communicating parties. For example, sounds oflaughter, musical tones, sound effects, DTMF signals or other familiaraudible sounds may communicate information or express thoughts andemotions. Embodiments of the present invention may advantageouslyinclude various aspects of recognizing, interpreting, and producing suchsounds as a way of enhancing communications among parties. One practicalapplication of this might be allowing a user of the system thatgenerates textual information to interact with a voice processing systemthat is accustomed to receiving DTMF tones as input.

In the discussion of IIX 125, “text” may refer to, for example, symbols,characters and representations of visual or tactile elements which mayor may not be actual words according to a given written or spokenlanguage. Thus, it should be understood that text-to-speech process 127and speech-to-text process 129 may operate to convert to/from audiblesignals other than spoken words and to convert to/from data representinginformation other than words.

In the context of facilitating communications among one party using aninstant communications client and another party using a telephonicconnection, a novel aspect of the present teachings relates to themanner in which symbols, known as “emoticons” and often appearing alongwith textual information, may be used to convey emotions, thoughts orimpressions.

Because instant messaging sessions, especially chat sessions, may use anumber of conventional abbreviations and so-called “emoticons”, thespeech-to-text process 129 and text-to-speech process 127 may employspecial-purpose dictionaries (not shown) that list the properequivalents for performing conversion among speech and text or symbols.For example, the commonly used “LOL” may be translated to the spokenequivalent of “laughing out loud” or to a sound effect that sounds likelaughter. Dictionaries may be customizable to suit the preferences ofcommunicating parties using system 100.

IIX 125 may act to recognize sounds and render, in the conversionperformed by speech-to-text process 129, textual or symbolicrepresentations that correspond to the sounds according to someconventional or desired mapping. For example, the spoken words “laughout loud” or even the detection of sounds of laughter from one party mayevoke a textual “LOL” or the like which is conveyed to the other partywho is using a textual interface. Further, to aid such detection orprovide more deliberate control for communicating parties, IIX 125 maybe receptive to verbal commands and command delimiters indicating that asound or spoken utterance is to be interpreted according to this featurerather than interpreted as literal words. For example, a party may say“insert” or “emoticon” followed by a desired expression such as “laugh”,“frown”, “puzzled”, etc. Upon recognizing such a keyword, IIX 125 willinterpret adjacent sounds and, if possible, map the sounds detected intoappropriate symbols to be sent to another party.

In performing conversion, IIX 125 may be receptive to other signals suchas DTMF signals. While communicating through IIX 125, a party using atelephone may be able to press digits on a dialing keypad to havespecific emoticons or other symbols included in the textual output ofthe conversion module. For example, a “smiley face” representation maybe sent to an instant communications user in response to a telephonyuser entering a sequence such as “#8” or “486”, the latter of whichfollows the shape of a smile on a standard 12-key touch-tone keypad.DTMF tones may also be used to implement recognizable command delimitersin the context of the previous discussion.

In the course of converting speech and other audible signals intocorresponding symbols or text, IIX 125 may also perform translationamong different spoken and written languages, for example, convertingEnglish text to Spanish speech and vice-versa. The decision to invokethis type of conversion may be performed dynamically in response toinput from the parties as the communications is established.Alternatively, language preferences or compatibilities of one or both ofthe parties may be known or maintained in a profile database orexpressed by devices, such as called party client 139, to affect how IIX125 handles the communications. Language conversion may be provided asan option to users and, from a commercial standpoint, may be offered atan additional charge to offset costs or provide a profitable operationfor a service provider.

As IIX 125 performs conversion, the manner in which each party perceivesthe other party may be affected by the interaction through thetranslator. For example, a male party using an instant communicationsclient, such as called party client 139, will likely prefer that anysynthesized speech representing him to a telephony user be rendered in amale voice. Other aspects of speech rendering, such as approximatespeaker age, vocal characteristics, inflection and local dialect may bealterable or configurable and may be adjusted dynamically or accordingto, for example, a profile maintained for a given user in capabilitiesserver 117, for example. In some implementations, a party might elect touse a speech persona that is whimsical or that emulates thecharacteristics of a popular recognizable personality. Users may pay apremium to a service provider for the use of such custom services.

Another aspect of how one party “experiences” another party relates tothe identifying of the parties to one another, particularly to the partywho is using an instant communications client of some nature. Inconducting messaging communications, for example, one party will seechat messages coming from another party, the chat messages havingactually been composed by speech-to-text process 129 based upon speechinput from the other party. The apparent screen name of the remote partymay be subject to control dynamically during the establishing ofcommunications or may be affected by a profile of user preferencesconsulted by system 10 in the course of providing the communicationsservice. According to various implementations, the presentation ofremote user identity to the messaging user may comprise a screen name,an image or iconic representation, a sound bite or other presentableelement. The manner in which a given party wants to be presented to aremote party may be the subject of interaction with an operator orinteractive service providing system during or preparatory to theestablishment of communications involving the parties. A serviceprovider may optionally assess billable charges to one or both of theparties related to the provisioning, use or invocation of some of thesepresentation features.

IIX 125 may be controlled by or communicably coupled to either or bothof VPS 103, via connection 57, or IPG 105, via connection 58. The typesof communications that may take place through these connections aretypified in the discussion of FIG. 2B. One aspect of control informationalong connection 57 may relate to whether or not IIX 125 is to engage incommunications involving called party client 139. Other aspects affectedby communication along connection 57 may relate to, for example, portnumbers by which other elements communicate with translating processesor language models to be used for translation. Alternatively, engagementof IIX 125 may take place intrinsically through communications alongconnections 42, 44, 46 or 48. IIX 125 may comprise a controller 126 forperforming control communications, such as along connections 57 and 58,and generally for coordinating any necessary allocation, configurationor the like pertaining to engaging processes 127, 129 in communicationssessions through IIX 125.

Responsive to whether the called party will be using textual messaging,IIX 125 may be invoked by coupling text input from receiver process 115along connection 48 to text-to-speech process 127, which converts thetext input to corresponding speech output and sends the speech output,along connection 44 to ultimately reach calling party 101. Likewise,speech input received from calling party 101 along connection 42 isconverted by speech-to-text process 127 into corresponding text outputand passed, along connection 46, to sender process 113 to ultimatelyreach called party client 139.

Connections 42 and 44 may be said to be a “bearer channel interface”referring to the bearing or carrying of user traffic as opposed tosignaling and control information. Other elements in FIG. 1 may besimilarly viewed as having bearer channel interfaces. Furthermore,although connections 42 and 44 are shown as coupled to VPS 103, it isconceivable that the coupling of connections 42 and 44 to calling party101 may involve one or more of VPS 103, bridging switch 54 and telephonenetwork 80. The nature of connections 42 and 44 may vary as well.Depending on the degree to which IIX 125 may be integrated with VPS 103,connections 42 and 44 may be implemented along a data bus or local areanetwork which carries data representing voice signals within VPS 103.

Otherwise, connections 42 and 44 may resemble standard interfaces suchas T1, ISDN PRI, or even analog 2-wire or 4-wire connections.Advantageously, connections 42 and 44 may be assigned to ports on thebridging switch 54 so that calling party 101 may be coupled to IIX 125without occupying resources of VPS 103. Speech signals to be translatedinto textual information may reach IIX 125 in a variety of forms.

A signaling interface, such as SIP user agent 56, optionally added tovoice processing system 103 is shown to in communication with avoice-over-IP gateway 131 for establishing a voice call over apacket-switching network, such as IP network 133, using a protocol suchas Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) or H.323. The voice-over-IP gateway131 may also be in communication, directly or through VPS 103 or otherelements, with the intelligent information translator 125 for providingthe voice input to the speech-to-text process 127 and receiving voiceoutput from the text-to-speech process 129. Various couplings betweenvoice-over-IP gateway 131 and other elements may be considered a packetvoice communications interface with respect to system 100. Furthermore,where system 100 is taken to include a voice-over-packet gateway orotherwise provide an interface directly to a packet data network, theinterface so formed may also be referred to as a packet voicecommunications interface.

Those of ordinary skill in the relevant art will recognize that thevarious functional elements depicted in FIG. 1 may be combined orseparated in a variety of ways while still embodying the teachings ofthe present invention. For example, VPS 103 and IPG 105 may beseparately implemented and merely interfaced to one another.Alternatively, these may be fully integrated in a single element orinstallation to constitute a device for enabling call completion throughreal-time messaging communications. Either of these may also include IIX125 and its functions. Furthermore, a gateway device, such as VoIPgateway 131, may be integrated with any or all of these elements to forma composite device or system enabling communications among a telephoneuser and a instant communications client.

Any of the various possible combinations among elements may beimplemented in a platform suitably equipped with telephony interfaceequipment, communications switches, operator stations, and sufficientcomputing and digital signal processing resources to provide all therequisite functionality and interfaces described herein. For example, anarrangement suitable for implementing at least VPS 103 and perhaps otherelements of system 100 is described in the co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/096,938, especially with respect to FIGS. 1 and2 therein. Voice processing systems in general are well known in the artand it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill how a variety ofexisting systems and architectures may be modified in design to embodythe present invention.

In addition to calls carried over a conventional telephone network 80,system 100 may also involve telephony class and other communicationswithin a packet data network, such as IP (internet protocol) network133. An IP telephone 82 is shown coupled to IP network 133 and may beused by a caller to originate a call to VPS 103. VPS 103 may handle sucha call similarly to what has been described for a conventional telephonecall inbound from telephone network 80.

One technique for coordinating the establishment of telephony calls andother types of communications sessions is called the Session InitiationProtocol (SIP) and is described in documents such as RFC 3261 of theInternet Engineering Task Force (IETF). IP telephone 82 may be aSIP-compliant device. To establish a connection with VPS 103, IP phone82 may send a SIP ‘INVITE’ message to a SIP server 135, which serves arole in a SIP environment of determining how and where to send furtherSIP messages to achieve the connection requested from IP phone 82.Eventually, by the appropriate sequence of SIP messaging as is wellknown in the art, IP phone 82 may be connected to VPS 103 through avoice-over-packet gateway, such as voice-over-IP (VoIP) gateway 131.Connection 50 by which IP network 133 is coupled to VoIP gateway 131 maycomprise SIP signaling messages over a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) anddigitally encoded audio telephony signals sent via the RealtimeTransport Protocol (RTP).

A voice-over-packet gateway, such as VoIP gateway 131, is well known inthe industry as a device for allowing communications among disparatetypes of networks. In particular, VoIP gateway 131 adapts signaling andbearer channel communications in a telephone network to the types ofsignaling and packetized data stream communications used in a packettelephony network.

IP telephone 82 may be connected to VPS 103 through IP network 133 andVoIP gateway 131. A user of IP phone 82 may experience much the sameinteraction with operator 52 as calling party 101 or called party 137.

A user of IP phone 82 may be able to send and receive voicecommunications to IIX 125 in order to communicate with called party 137who is using a textual messaging interface at called party client 139.In this scenario, the speech communications among the IP phone 82 andthe IIX 125 may be carried along connection 38, which may be aconventional telephone circuit or TDM channel. Alternatively, VoIPgateway 131 may be coupled via connection 36 directly to IIX 125 tofacilitate such communications. Any of connections 36, 38 and 40 mayimplement a gateway control interface operable to cause VoIP gateway 131or the like to establish voice communications between a telephone 102 orIP phone 82 and called party client 139. It is also conceivable that IIX125 may provide, for example, an interface directly to IP network 133for directly supporting RTP connectivity. Additionally, any ofconnections 36, 38 and 40, as well as SIP user agent 56, may implement anetwork signaling interface operable to coordinate communicationsbetween parties in FIG. 1. Connections 36, 38 and 40 may also carryvoice communications to and from network 133 and may therefore implementa packet voice communications interface.

Aside from being involved in the connection of IP phone 82 to VPS 103just described, IP network 133 may participate in reaching called partyclient 139 by so-called “voice enabled chat.” Upon indication that thecalled party client 139 supports voice connections and that such a voiceconnection is indeed desired by the communicating parties, a voiceconnection may be established from calling party 101, through VPS 103 orbridging switch 54, through connection 38, VoIP gateway 131, IP network133 and connection 52 to called party client 139. The signal throughconnection 38 may be a conventional analog or TDM telephony signalwhereas the latter segments through IP network 133 may be RTPconnections through a packet data transport.

Those of ordinary skill will recognize that many variations are possiblein connections among elements, sequencing and flow of control messages,roles fulfilled by elements, inclusion of SIP user agent clients anduser agent server interfaces into elements. For example, VPS 103 maypresent an interface direct packet transport interface and/or a SIPinterface without requiring gateway 131.

Furthermore, indications of activities or events within various elementsof FIG. 1 may be reported to billing system 123 for purposes such asassessing usage charges to users, monitoring fraud activity orperforming traffic engineering. These indications of activities orevents may relate to a wide variety of events taking place withinelements in FIG. 1 and may be designed to occur at any point in thecourse of providing a service to one or more parties. Indications tobilling system 123 may accompany other communications, such as controlconmunications occurring among elements in FIG. 1, and may reach billingsystem 123 via any number and combination of the connections andelements shown. Indications to billing system 123 may undergoprocessing, such as combining of related indications, by other elementsbefore being forwarded to billing system 123. Some or all of thefunction of billing system 123 may be integrated into or distributedamong other elements or functions depicted in FIG. 1. Any of theelements may be involved in also using billing system 123 verify whetherservice activity is to proceed based upon, for example, ability toobtain payment for providing the service.

Call Flows

Various call completion scenarios can occur within the networkillustrated in FIG. 1. FIGS. 2A through 5B are various example callflows depicting how elements of FIG. 1 may interact to handle a call invarious ways. The four call flows are similar in many ways but differ inthe following aspects:

FIGS. 2A and 2B describe what may occur as a calling party makes contactwith VPS 103 and is connected to the called party's instantcommunications client through IIX 125. After communicating in thismanner for a period of time, the caller eventually disconnects the call.

In FIGS. 3A and 3B, the caller is connected to the called party throughIIX in much the same way as in FIGS. 2A and 2B, but it is the calledparty who disconnects the call.

In FIGS. 4A and 4B, the caller disconnects the call with the calledparty but stays coupled to VPS 103 in order to “reoriginate” anothercall perhaps to a different called party.

In FIGS. 5A and 5B, the called party elects to use a voice-over-packetcapability of their instant communications client to engage in voicecommunications with the calling party.

These call flows depicting control information and the like being passedamong the functional elements of FIG. 1 are merely examples and are notintended to represent all of the interactions contemplated among theseelements.

Calling party 101 may have different call experiences depending on thehow calling party reaches VPS 103, such as what telephone number isdialed by the calling party to reach VPS 103. Various call experiencesare described in detail below in conjunction with FIGS. 7A through 9D.The main differences among the call experiences relate to how thecalling party invokes call completion to an instant communicationsclient and whether such completion is offered as a primary mode ofcompletion or as a secondary mode of completion. A typical sequence ofinteractions among elements will now be described in conjunction withFIGS. 2A and 2B. This sequence of interactions may be representative ofseveral possible services or usage scenarios and, with minor variations,may be applicable to all of the call experiences that will be furtherdescribed later.

FIGS. 2A and 2B together constitute a call flow illustratingpresence-based call completion wherein the call is eventually concludedby the calling party. Each arrow in the call flow of FIGS. 2A and 2Brepresents interaction of some nature between elements of FIG. 1. Theseactions are generally communications among elements which, depending onthe circumstances, may include, for example, vocal communications,textual communications, call setup signaling, control signals and eventnotifications.

In FIG. 2A, calling party 101, via telephone 102, places a call to, orotherwise becomes connected with, VPS 103. For example, calling party101 may dial a number corresponding to a collect call serviceimplemented by VPS 103. Calling party 101 may access VPS 103 for thepurpose of placing a collect call to called party 137.

The placing of the call to VPS 103 by calling party 101 is representedin FIG. 2A by action 201. Action 202 represents the answering of thecall by VPS 103, or an operator 52 therein (see FIG. 1), and maycomprise an audible greeting to the caller along with a prompt for thecaller to provide input to specify the called party they want tocontact.

In action 203, the caller provides input about the called party they areseeking. In scenarios other than a collect call, such as a prepaidcalling card arrangement, action 203 may also entail the callerproviding a calling card number and a PIN number or otherwise providinginformation as to how the call is to be billed.

Action 204 may serve to notify billing system 123 that VPS 103, orgenerally system 100, is being accessed to provide service. Billingsystem 123 may note this indication as part of its role in assessingcharges for usage of the service. These charges may be billed to callingparty 101, to called party 137 or to some other account.

In action 204, VPS 103 may communicate with billing system 123 to verifythe billing information which may have been provided by the caller orobtained by other means such as a database look-up. The billinginformation may be associated with the called party, the calling party,a third party account or some other account. In the case of a collectcall, the billing information of the called party will likely bechecked. It is further possible that signaling information accompanyingthe inbound call or a line information database (LIDB) or profileinformation database may also be examined at this point to verify thecalled party's or calling party's ability to participate in collectcalls or whatever type of call is being requested.

If billing system 123 performs an authorization role as just described,action 205 may represent the response from billing system 123 indicatingto VPS 103 whether or not the call completion or other service requestedby calling party 101 may be performed. Assuming this authorization isgranted, action 206 is then performed by VPS 103 or an operator 52therein.

Action 206 generally represents actions performed by the operator, whichmay vary depending on what type of call or service has been requested bycalling party 101. In the present example of a collect call, VPS 103 (anoperator 52) may initiate a telephone call to called party 137 in thetraditional manner by announcing the call to the called party and askingif the called party will accept the charges for the call. In aparticular instance, the called party 137 might not be reached by theoperator or may decline the collect call. Action 207 represents theoperator informing calling party 101 that the attempted collect callcannot be completed at the present time.

In accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention, theoperator may at this point offer calling party 101 the option ofattempting to engage in instant communications, such as textual chat,with the called party as an alternative to a telephone conversation.Other alternatives, such as voice mail, may be offered as well.

Action 208 represents the response of the calling party to theoperator's offer to use instant communications. Assuming the callingparty agrees to use instant communications, action 208 may be viewed asbeing essentially another request for service by calling party 101 toVPS 103.

To pursue the prospect of connecting calling party 101 with called party137, VPS 103 solicits presence information from IPG 105 as representedby action 209. This request for presence information, as well as theeventual response shown as action 217, may take place, for example,through connection 10 shown in FIG. 1.

In accordance with one approach described earlier with respect tofetcher process 111, IPG 105 may request and obtain, in actions 211 and212 respectively, presence status information for the called party frompresence server 119. In the request to presence server 119, the calledparty may be specified by a chat screen name or other identifier bywhich the called party is known to presence server 119.

It should be noted that presence server 119 will usually have maintaineda presence state for called party 137 before the time of presencerequest 211 and often even before the calling party's initial call(action 201) to VPS 103. Action 210 represents called party 137, or moreparticularly called party client 139, notifying presence server 119 ofits availability state at some point prior to the requesting of presenceinformation in action 211. This approach will often allow determiningavailability of called party 137 before contact is actually attemptedwith called party 137 or called party client 139.

As shown in actions 213 and 215, IPG 105 may also consult capabilitiesserver 117 to obtain information, such as preferences or capabilitiespertaining to called party 137 and/or calling party client 139. Forexample, capabilities server 17 may return information as to whethercalled party client 139 supports voice-enabled chat and whether calledparty 137 generally prefers to use textual or voice communications.

After obtaining presence information and other information, IPG 105provides the information in a response to VPS 103 as represented byaction 217. Actions 209 through 217 represent a novel coupling of aninteractive voice processing system to a presence-determining functionin accordance with preferred embodiments of the present invention.

At this point VPS 103 may optionally involve billing system 123 as shownin actions 219 and 221. For example, VPS 103 may determine, perhaps inresponse to information gleaned in actions 209-217, whether furtherservice should be performed based on the called party's ability to payor upon other determinations that may be made in conjunction withbilling system 123.

In practice, many such factors may be considered in determining whethercalling party 101 may ultimately establish communications with calledparty client 139. Making this determination may involve, for example,obtaining, from a presence server, presence state information pertainingto the second party, contacting the second party and obtaining anindication from the second party as to the acceptance of instantcommunications, determining whether the first party is eligible toestablish instant communications with the second party, determiningwhether the second party is eligible to receive instant communicationsfrom the first party, and determining whether the first party desires toestablish communications with the second party using instantcommunications. Depending on implementation, various ones of thesefactors may be applied by billing system 123 or by other elements in thecourse of service processing.

In action 223, VPS 103 may inform calling party 101 that called party137 may be accessible via instant communications. In action 223, orseparately in action 225, VPS 103 may request confirmation from callingparty 101 that they indeed wish to proceed with instant communicationswith the called party. In action 225 VPS 103 may also solicit thepreferences of calling party 101 in terms of whether to use textual chator voice if supported by the called party client 139. As part of action225, the operator may ask how the calling party 101 prefers to beidentified to the called party 137. The response by calling party 101 tothese prompts is shown by action 227.

Referring now to FIG. 2B, it may be seen that, having determined thatthe calling party desires chat and that the calling party appears to becapable of engaging in chat, VPS 103 proceeds to contact called party137 and invite them to converse with calling party 101. VPS 103, via IPG105 and IM server 121 as depicted by actions 229 and 231 and233,initiates a dialog with called party 137, or particularly the calledparty client 139 being used by called party 137. In action 229, VPS 103may include a message such as “Roger is calling from a phone and wouldlike to chat with you. Can you chat now?”

Action 233 represents a session initation to establish instant messagingcommunications with called party 137 and action 235 represents theacceptance of the session. Action 237 is an instant message to receivedby the calling party containing the aforementioned “Can you chat now?”invitation.

Called party 137 provides a response to the invitation in action 239which, through actions 241 and 243, reaches VPS 103. At this point,billing system 123 may optionally be informed of the acceptance ofcalled party 137 as evidenced by action 245. For example, in someimplementations, this event may be significant to billing system 123 asrepresenting the commencement of billable usage by the parties.

As shown by action 247, billing system 123 may also be involved inauthorizing further action to connect the parties. In some scenarios,part of action 245 may include the passing of information obtained fromcalled party 137, such as billing account information or authorizationcodes, so that billing system 123 can take such information intoaccount. In action 249, VPS 103 may inform calling party 101 by voicethat they are about to engage in a telephony-to-instant-communicationssession with the called party. VPS 103 may also convey any instructionsabout how to participate in the session. Likewise, VPS 103 may alsoprovide a connection notification, action 255, comprising a textualmessage telling called party 137 about the impending commencement of thesession.

Optionally, actions 249 and 251 may give rise to correspondingconfirmations 253 and 255. These optional confirmations may be desirableif, for example, charges for the session or other aspects of theconnection must be approved by either or both of the parties. Billingrelated actions 245 and 247 shown earlier may optionally be performedafter, and responsive to, these confirmations.

As shown by action 257, VPS 103 then requests IPG 105 to establish asession between the parties. This session, between calling party 101using a telephony connection and called party 137 using an instantcommunications client, involves engaging intelligent informationtranslator 125 to perform substantially real-time conversion amongspeech signals and textual information.

Accordingly, IPG 105 sends a media channel request, in action 259, tothe intelligent information translator 125, which allocates the neededresources for a speech-to-text process 127 and a text-to-speech process129. This may involve reserving ports, allocating memory, and initiatingnew processes. The result of this allocation is sent back to theintelligent presence gateway 105 as a media channel response shown asaction 261. This response may include identifiers, port numbers or otherinformation involved in coordinating communications establishmentthrough IIX 125.

Upon successful allocation of a media channel, the intelligentinformation translator 125 connects the calling party 101 to the mediachannel, enabling voice channel connectivity as represented by action263. On the called party end, the intelligent information translator 125establishes a chat or other instant communications session with thecalled party 137 via the sender and receiver processes 127, 129 and theinstant messaging server 121, and binds the instant message session tothe media channel. This instant communications connection, representedby action 265, may be achieved by having IIX 125 take up the same IMsession established with the called party 137 in action 231. In thismanner, called party 137 experiences continuity of the one sessionrather than having to separately establish a session for conversing withthe calling party 101. At this point, calling party 101 and called party137 are in communication with one another.

As the conversation proceeds, speech recognition algorithms are appliedby the speech-to-text process 127 to convert utterances in the speech ofthe calling party 101 into a textual or character-based representationthat is transmitted to the called party 137 via the sender process 113and the instant messaging server 121. Conversely, text messagescomprising words, abbreviations, and so-called “emoticons” received fromthe called party 137 via the instant messaging server 121 and thereceiver process 115 are converted into a speech representation of thewords by the text-to-speech process 129. The resulting speech signalsmay be transmitted to the calling party 101 via the voice-over-IPgateway 131 or through connection 44, VPS 103, bridging switch 54 orother means. Speech-to-text process 127 may employ any of the well knownspeech recognition technologies available from companies such as Nuance,SpeechWorks, IBM, or Dragon Systems, for example. Text-to-speech process129 may use DECtalk™ speech synthesis technology developed by DigitalEquipment Corporation, for example. This translation may also beperformed manually by a human operator listening to the utterances via aheadset and typing in the text in one direction, and reading the text ona screen and providing a spoken representation in the other direction.

Communications among the parties proceeds in this manner through IIX 125until the parties are finished communicating or until a balance of abillable account is exhausted. For example, at some point during thecall, the calling party 101 may wish to terminate the call. This mayoccur by hanging up of the telephone used by the calling party 101. Thisaction results in a termination request, action 267, being sent from thecalling party 101 to VPS 103. In practice, this termination request maybe conveyed as telephony signaling, for example. In someimplementations, VPS 103 may confirm the termination by sending atermination response, action 269, to the calling party 101.

VPS 103 sends termination notification, action 271, to the called party137 via the intelligent presence gateway 105 and the instant messagingserver 121. As represented by action 273, VPS 103 may transmit a serviceevent to billing system 123 as the session is ended. Intelligentpresence gateway 105 may also provide a session event, action 275, tothe billing system 123. Actions 273 and/or 275 may be performed so thatusage activity may accurately reported upon and charges can beaccurately calculated.

As with all of the calls flows in FIGS. 2A-5B, the sequence of eventsdepicted in FIGS. 2A and 2B are intended to be merely illustrative andshould not be construed to be the only manner in which the presentinvention may be embodied. Many of the actions shown may be augmented byother actions, omitted, or performed in a different sequence or amongdifferent elements than as shown. For example, VPS 103 could participatein engaging IIX 125 directly rather than having IPG 105 do so.Furthermore, according to an alternative approach, aspects of calltermination and billing notifications may be performed by IIX 125,especially considering that IIX 125 is actively engaged in the sessionuntil it is concluded.

Termination of communications may also occur other than as shown inFIGS. 2A-2B. For example, the called party 137 may signal termination byending the instant messaging session or providing some other indicationas may be appropriate in a particular implementation. This scenario isshown in FIGS. 3A and 3B. In FIGS. 3A and 3B, the steps starting fromthe initial voice call 301 in FIG. 3A through the establishment of thevoice call 363 and instant message 365 occur as substantially describedwith respect to steps 201 through 265 hereinabove in FIGS. 2A and 2B,with some details omitted for simplicity. However, in this called partytermination scenario, the called party 137 sends a termination request,action 367, triggered by the ending of the session, to IIX 125 or,depending on implementation, to the voice processing system 103 via theinstant messaging server 121 and the intelligent presence gateway 105.The voice processing system 103 (or IIX 125) confirms the termination bysending a termination response, action 369, to the called party 137 viathe intelligent presence gateway 105 and the instant messaging server121, and by sending a termination notification 371 to the calling party101. As before, the voice processing system 103 transmits a serviceevent 373 to the billing system 123, and the intelligent presencegateway 105 transmits session event 375 to the billing system 123.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate a call re-origination scenario, in which thecalling party 101 indicates a desire to make another call withouthanging up or reentering the billing information, for example bypressing the pound key (#) on a telephone keypad for two (2) seconds. Inthis scenario, the steps starting from the initial voice call 401 inFIG. 4A to the establishment of communications among the partiesrepresented by actions 463 and 465 are substantially as described withrespect to steps 201-275 presented above in FIGS. 2A and 2B. However,during the ‘call’, the calling party 101 makes the re-originationrequest 477 which is detected by VPS 103, perhaps via bridging switch54. In response, the connection to called party 137 is terminated asshown by action 471, which is optional and may include, for example, atextual notification of the termination for the benefit of called party137. Actions 473 and 475 inform billing system 123 of the conclusion ofthe session. Then the operator at VPS 103 offers new service options asshown by action 479. The calling party 101 submits a new service optionrequest 481, which is handled by VPS 103 by taking appropriate steps483. If the calling party 101 wishes another instant message basedcommunication, then the steps described herein above may be repeated.The interaction just described for VPS 103 may involve or be performedentirely by IIX 125 as well.

In another embodiment of the present invention, instant communicationsis used initially to contact the called party 137 for obtaining billingand capabilities information, but the call is actually then terminatedin a voice-over-IP session at the option of the called party 137.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate the operation of this embodiment, in whichsteps 501-543 (transmission of the session response 543 from theintelligent presence gateway 105 to the voice processing system 103)proceed as substantially described with respect to corresponding steps201-243. However, operator 52 at voice processing system 103 may detectthat the called party client 139 is capable of voice-over-IP based onthe information in the capability information response 515. Analternative to the process of obtaining information from capabilitiesserver 117 may be to query the called party client 139 directly using,for example, SIP mechanisms for exploring client capabilities. Inresponse the operator may send an instant message 545 to the calledparty 137 via the intelligent presence gateway 105 and the instantmessaging server 121. Instant message 545 may ask the called party toselect which capability, voice or text, the called party prefers to use.In reply, the called party 137 returns an instant message 547 thatconfirms that the voice-over-IP capability of the called party client139 is to be used. This can happen at any time during the communicationsession.

After interaction with the billing system 123 using billing request 549and billing response 551, the operator at VPS 103 sends the intelligentpresence gateway 105 a session establishment request 553. In response,the intelligent presence gateway 105 sends a session and channel request555 to the voice-over-IP gateway 131, which establishes a voice-over-IPsession with the called party client 139. A session and channel response557 is then sent from the called party client 139 to the intelligentpresence gateway 105. The intelligent presence gateway 105 then sends asession establishment response 559 to VPS 103.

To complete the establishment of the call, VPS 103 provides a connectionnotification 561 to the calling party 101, and a connection notification563 to the called party 137 via the voice-over-IP gateway 131. Inreturn, the calling party 101 provides a connection confirmation 565 toVPS 103 and the called party 137 provides a connection confirmation 567to VPS 103 via the voice-over-IP gateway 131. At this point, thevoice-over-IP gateway 131 interfaces a voice call leg 569 with thecalling party 101 and a voice-over-IP call leg 571 with the called partyclient 139. These requests, responses, notifications, and confirmationsmay be carried out using computer generated messages or usinghuman-intelligible voice prompts and Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF or“touch tone”) or spoken responses.

Upon conclusion of the call, the call between the calling party 101 andthe called party 137 is torn down in steps 573-581 substantially asdescribed herein above with respect to steps 267-275 in FIG. 2B.

In the preceding description of FIGS. 2A-5B, billing system 123 wasshown to participate in collecting information indicative of usageactivity in the communications system and in authorizing activity basedon whether such activity could be paid for in some manner. It should benoted that various elements in FIG. 1 may report a variety ofindications to billing system 123 indicating usage of the system whichmay be billable. The billing system may note these occurrences anddetermine charges associated with the usage. Furthermore, as depicted inFIG. 2A-2B and others, billing system 123 may also participate inauthorization or metering of activity in the system based upon whether avalid account exists to which charges may be applied.

Some types of activity or events in the system relate to invocation ofcertain actions or features for which charges may be applicable. Forexample, a calling party (or some other entity to be billed) might becharged for each time they contact the system, each time they use thesystem to verify presence status for a called party or for each attemptto establish instant communications with a called party. A calling partymight also incur fees for having the system map a first identifier, suchas a telephone number, to a second identifier, such as an instantmessaging screen name.

A calling party might be charged differently for invocation of textualmessaging versus voice communications. A calling party might be chargeda fee each time a translator is engaged to enabletelephony-to-instant-communications call completion. A calling party mayeven be charged for requesting information about the balance on anaccount.

Other types of activity in the system may relate to quantifying usage ofsystem resources. For example, charges may be applied based upon a timeduration of a communications session, a volume of data or traffichandled by the system, or a quantity of translation performed.

A third possibility for billable activity in the system relates tooptions and features and subscribed services. Options or features mayrelate to class of service provided by the system or to customizability.In particular, parties using the system might pay extra to control thetranslator function in ways such as selecting languages to be usedduring translation, providing support for ‘emoticons’ or selecting voicecharacteristics to properly represent the gender or othercharacteristics of the party who is using textual messaging, orestablishing of common phrases, utterances, or signals including, forexample, one or more DTMF signals to signify meaning and thereforeenhance communications. Another option that might be billable isautomatic notification of balance or charges as a party uses the system.In this third category, it is likely that the billing system mostlyserves to authorize activity based upon options selected by the userand/or the status of an account that is to pay for the options.

Referring now to FIGS. 7A through 9D, three processes are showndepicting three different call experiences that might be provided to acalling party by the system of FIG. 1.

It should be noted at the outset that processes 700, 800 and 900 aremerely illustrative and not intended to limit the ways in which thepresent invention may be realized. Many adaptations and variations arepossible. For example, throughout processes 700, 800 and 900, theinvolvement of billing determinations may occur at any juncture in theservice processing subject to how one desires to have the systemoperate. In actual practice, the offering of alternative modes ofcommunication, the soliciting of information from a party and theretrieval of information from databases and such may differ in detailsand in sequence from what is shown in these examples without affectingthe spirit and scope of the present invention.

Furthermore, at points where these processes may involve determining,for example, preferences of the communicating parties or billinginformation, such information may be obtained from a database, such ascapabilities server 117, so that user profile information replaces oraugments user input. In other words, it is possible for configurableprofile information associated with a party to be maintained in adatabase or the like and to be applied to automating some aspects of howsystem 100 provides service to calling party 101 and called party 137.For example, called party 137 may desire to have all inbound callsdiverted to called party client 139 during certain times of day. Thispreference information may reside in capabilities server 117 orelsewhere and may be automatically retrieved and applied in, forexample, steps 710 and 714 described below. Called party 137 may havebilling information or preferences similarly maintained in a databaseaccessible to system 100 so that any steps requiring billing input areautomatically carried out without requiring input from the called party.

In general, the manner and sequence in which the activities of processes700, 800 and 900 may be controlled by profile information associatedwith parties using system 100. Service processing may also be affectedby coupling to other systems or elements that maintain and useservice-affecting profile information. For example, SIP server 135 maymaintain profile information relating to called party 137 or calledparty client 139. Intelligent presence gateway 105 may coordinate withSIP server 135 so that features such as “Find me—Follow me” implementedin a SIP-controlled environment may be carried out in coordination withother aspects of system 100.

In accordance with a first call experience, a calling party reaches thevoice processing system 103 by telephone with the original intent ofreaching a called party by telephone connection. For example, thecalling party may dial “1-800-COLLECT” as they would normally do to useVPS 103 to place a collect call to the called party. The system proceedsto process the collect call as usual. If the call cannot be completed inthis manner, then, in accordance with the present teachings, the systeminvestigates the possibility of connecting the calling party to thecalled party via instant communications. This scenario is describedbelow in conjunction with FIGS. 7A-7D.

In accordance with a second call experience, the calling party reachesthe voice processing system by calling a specific telephone, such as“1-800-GET-CHAT”, for the express purpose of initiating instantcommunications with the called party. This scenario is described belowin conjunction with FIGS. 8A-8D.

In accordance with a third call experience, the calling party directlycalls the called party by telephone in the usual manner. When it isdetected that the called party telephone is busy or ringing withoutbeing answered, the calling party is connected to the voice processingsystem so that the caller may be offered alternative ways of reachingthe called party.

In FIGS. 7A through 7D, a process 700 is depicted whereby an enhancedservices system may offer a caller an option of communicating to aninstant communications client of a called party in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the present invention. Process 700 particularlyillustrates a variety of alternatives and conditional steps inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7A, process 700 commences at step 702 upon a callercalling a voice processing system, such as by calling party 101contacting an operator 52 or other interactive respondent within voiceprocessing system 103. Next, in step 704, the caller specifies to theoperator a particular called party that the caller desires to contact.For example, the called party may be specified by name or by phonenumber, if known. In the case of an automated or semi-automated responsesystem, the caller may provide the called party information via DTMFtones or by other transmission of signals, perhaps even by speaking intoa speech recognizing system that can determine the name or number databeing conveyed by the caller.

Proceeding to step 706, the operator validates the caller's request by,for example, ensuring the caller has expressed a valid telephone numberaccording to the North American Numbering Plan. Of course, thevalidation may be performed automatically especially if, for example,the telephone number of the called party is input as DTMF tones or othersignals from the caller in step 704. The validating step 706 maycomprise validating the authority of the caller to access specific typesof services offered via voice processing system 103. Validation step 706may also comprise ensuring that the operator clearly understands what isintended by the caller. Ways of handling inbound calls that fail to bevalidated are well known or easily foreseen by those of ordinary skillin the relevant art and so are not elaborated upon here.

Assuming that, in step 706, the caller's request is valid, then process700 continues at step 708 wherein the operator attempts to reach thecalled party by telephone, as represented called party phone 138 inFIG. 1. Thus far, process 700 is similar to the placement of a collectcall. In step 710, it is determined whether the operator has beensuccessful in establishing contact with the called party or at leastwith someone who has answered the telephone. If successful contact hasbeen made, then execution proceeds to step 716 to determine if theanswering party will accept the call. Typically, in the case of acollect call, the identity of the caller will be announced to the calledparty and the operator or voice processing system will ask the calledparty if they will accept the call (along with the charges for the call,if applicable).

If the caller accepts the call in step 716, then, in step 718, thecaller is connected to the called party and usage-based billing maycommence. Once the call is established, the operator is no longer neededon the line and, in practice, the connections, operator(s) and otherresources employed within the services platform to initiate the call arereleased. In FIG. 1, for example, bridging switch 54 may typically beused to keep phones 102 and 138 connected, while allowing VPS 103 todisengage via a well-known release link trunk 55 coupling telephonecircuits between bridging switch 54 and VPS 103. (For reference, one mayconsult U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,150 which shows a bridging switch anddescribes typical operation of a release link trunk.) Accordingly, then,after establishing the connection among parties in step 718, process 700(following label ‘D’) proceeds to step 770 (FIG. 7D) causing theoperator to be disengaged from the bridging switch. Process 700 thenterminates, having successfully connected the parties and effectivelyhandling the caller's request to contact the called party.

Returning to step 710, if the operator could not reach the called partyby phone, then execution proceeds to step 712 wherein the operatorinforms the caller that the called party could not be reached by phone.Next, in step 713, the operator explores whether there are any otherways that the caller might communicate with the called party, such as byinstant messaging or by depositing a voice mail message. The operator'sexploration of other possibilities allows the operator to presentappropriate options to the caller and may entail checking databases tosee if, for example, the caller or called party are subscribed tovarious service options, such as voicemail, chat call completion,paging, etc., accessible to the operator.

In step 714, then, based on the operator's findings, a determination ismade as to whether a chat session of some sort is a viable alternativeby which the caller might communicate with the called party. If instantcommunications, such as textual chat, is a viable alternative, thenprocess 700 continues to step 720 (FIG. 7B) and other steps to attemptto establish communications between the parties through an instantcommunications mechanism.

Specifically, in step 720, it is determined whether the operator alreadyhas access to information by which to contact the party through instantcommunications, such as by a chat interface. For example, it isconceivable that the operator may have access to a database mappingtelephone numbers or personal names to “screen names” used to identifyparties in an instant messaging system. On the other hand, the operatormay not have such information and may have to solicit input from thecaller. Thus, in step 720, if the operator does not have access tosufficient information to reach the called party by instant messaging,then step 722 is performed wherein the operator makes known to thecaller that alternatives, such as chat, may be available and theoperator asks the caller for contact information, if known. In step 724,if the caller wants to attempt a chat session as an alternative thenexecution proceeds to step 726, wherein the caller provides contactinformation by which the operator may attempt to reach the called partyby chat or instant messaging. In step 728, the operator uses the contactinformation obtained in step 726 to then determine if the called partyis presently available through a chat system. Referring to FIG. 1, thisaction might be represented by VPS 103 requesting presence informationfrom watcher process 109 or fetcher process 111 over connection 10. As acalled party logs onto client 137, client 137 may register its presencewith presence server 119, making the communications status of client 137available to watcher process 109 or fetcher process 111.

If, in step 728, it is determined that the called party is not presentor unavailable through a chat session, then, in step 730, the operatorinforms the caller that the called party is not accessible by chat andexecution proceeds, via the connector labeled ‘C’, to step 760 topossibly provide other alternatives as will be described in greaterdetail below.

Likewise, if, in step 724, it is determined that the caller does notwant to try a chat session, then execution also proceeds to step 760 asdescribed below.

Otherwise, if in step 728, it is determined that the called party ispresent and available via chat, then execution proceeds, following theconnector labeled ‘B’, to step 740 of FIG. 7C to attempt a chat sessionwith the called party as will be described shortly.

Returning to step 720, if the operator does have chat information forthe called party without need of receiving same from the caller, thenexecution moves to step 732 to determine if the called party is present,using a similar manner to that described in step 728. If the calledparty is not present, then optionally, in step 733, the operator informsthe caller that the party is inaccessible by chat. Thereafter, executionproceeds, following the connector labeled ‘C’ to step 760 to possiblyprovide other alternatives as will be described in greater detail below.

Otherwise, in step 732, if the party is available, then in step 734, theoperator offers the caller the option of engaging in chat communicationswith the called party. In step 736, if the caller declines to use thechat alternative, then execution proceeds, following the connectorlabeled ‘C’, to step 760 to possibly provide other alternatives as willbe described in greater detail below.

If, on the other hand, the caller does elect to try a chat session instep 736, then process 700 continues, following along the connectorlabeled ‘B’, to step 740 of FIG. 7C to attempt a chat session with thecalled party.

In FIG. 7C, process 700 continues with attempting to establish a chatsession between the caller and the called party. At step 740, comingfrom either steps 728 or 736, the operator performs a preparatory stepin obtaining information from the caller as to how they wish to beannounced to the called party. In step 742, the operator contacts thecalled party (or “callee”) and invites the callee to participate in achat session with the caller. In this invitation, the operatorintroduces the caller using the announcement information obtained instep 740.

In step 744, the called party's response to the invitation is determinedand if the invitation is declined, then execution proceeds, followingthe connector labeled ‘C’, to step 760 to possibly provide otheralternatives as will be described in greater detail below.

Otherwise, if the called party accepts the chat invitation in step 744,then step 746 is executed to determine if the called party clientsupports voice communications (voice-enabled chat). This may bedetermined by retrieving profile information from, for example, thecapabilities server 117 or by directly querying the called party 137 orcalled party client 139. If so, then execution proceeds to step 750wherein the operator asks the called party if they would prefer toengage in voice chat or use text-based chat. In step 752, the calledparty responds by electing either text or voice. If the callee selects atextual session, then execution proceeds with step 748 wherein a textchat session is established between the parties through a voice/texttranslator (see translator 125) and billing for the session, ifapplicable, is initiated. Step 748 is also undertaken if the calledparty client is found to not support voice sessions in step 746.

Returning to step 752, if the callee elects to engage in voicecommunications through a voice-enabled chat session, then, in step 754,the parties are connected to carry on voice communications. Referring toFIG. 1, this may be represented by connecting the calling party phone101 through voice processing system 103 or bridging switch 54 to VoIPgateway 131. This connection is completed by an RTP data connectionthrough IP network 133 to called party client 139. This connection maybe established by SIP signaling among SIP user agent 56, VoIP gateway131 and SIP server 135, or by using H.323-type protocols or othersuitable mechanisms.

Whether a voice connection as in step 754 or a textual chat session asin step 748 ensues, execution then proceeds, along the connector labeled‘D’, to step 770 wherein the operator is disengaged from the “call” andthen the handling of the caller's original request is concluded in step772.

Referring to FIG. 7D, many determinations in process 700 may result inexecution of step 760, generally when attempts to establish telephone orchat messaging to a party have been unsuccessful. In step 760, it isdetermined if there are yet other alternatives for communicating to thecalled party, such as paging or voice mail. If not, then in step 768,the caller is informed that the called party is not reachable by anyfurther means beyond what may have already been offered to the caller.Processing then proceeds to step 770 to decouple the caller from theoperator which, in this instance, essentially disconnects the caller.

If the condition tested in step 760 is found to be true, then, in step762, such alternatives indicated as available in step 760 are offered tothe caller by the operator. In step 764, it is determined whether thecaller elects to use an alternative so offered. If so, then step 766 isperformed wherein the caller is ‘connected’ in a sense to thealternative, meaning that the caller may be forwarded to a voice mailsystem or become coupled to a paging application, to name a fewexamples. Returning to step 764, if the caller elects not to use offeredalternatives, then processing continues at step 770 to essentiallydisconnect the operator from the caller.

FIGS. 8A-8D depict a process 800 whereby a caller may contact anenhanced services system to establish communications to a messagingclient of a called party in accordance with an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention.

In FIG. 8A, process 800 commences in step 802 when a caller contacts avoice processing system for the purpose of establishing a chat sessionwith a “called party.” In contrast to the scenario described in process700 wherein the party initially desired to establish a telephone call,process 806 relates to the caller preferring at the outset to establisha chat session with the called party. The caller might place a telephonecall to a “1-800-GET-CHAT” telephone number, for example, to signify tothe communications system the intent or desire to preferably establishcommunications via the instant communications client. Where the VPS 103supports both process 700 and process 800, the number dialed by thecaller to reach the system, or the trunk group by which the call comesto the system, may be used to differentiate handling of the call. Thecommunications system may accordingly, act first to establish contactvia a instant communications client in preference to other forms ofcommunication that may be available.

Upon the caller reaching the system in step 802, an operator, eithermanual or automatic or a combination thereof, is connected to the callerand, in step 804, obtains information from the caller about the partythey are trying to reach by chat. The operator may also collect otherinformation such as account information to which the use of the systemmay be billed. In step 806, the operator validates at least the contactinformation provided by the caller and then verifies whether the partyis present on a messaging system and determines capabilities for thedestination party. Referring to FIG. 1, operator 52 may cause VPS 103 toobtain timely presence information from fetcher process 111 or watcherprocess 109 representing the available status of called party client139.

In step 808, it is determined, based on the inquiry of step 806, whetheror not the called party is present via a chat messaging client. Ifpresence is not detected, then process 800 continues with step 816wherein the operator informs the caller that the called party is notaccessible, at least not by chat. Thereafter, process 800 continues,following the connector labeled ‘A’, to step 820 to offer the caller theoption of placing a telephone call, as will be described in greaterdetail below.

Returning to step 808, if it is determined that the called party ispresent and available via chat messaging, then process 800 continueswith step 810 wherein the operator obtains information proceeds toestablish a chat session between the caller and the called party. Instep 810, the operator performs a preparatory step in obtaininginformation from the caller as to how they wish to be announced to thecalled party. In step 812, the operator contacts the called party (or“callee”) and invites the callee to participate in a chat session withthe caller. In this invitation, the operator introduces the caller usingthe announcement information obtained in step 810.

Then, in step 814, the operator determines whether the callee acceptsthe offered chat communications. If not, then step 816 is performedwherein the operator informs the caller that the called party is notaccessible, at least not by chat. Thereafter, process 800 continues,following the connector labeled ‘A’, to step 820 to offer the caller theoption of placing a telephone call as will be described in greaterdetail below.

Returning to step 814, if the caller does accept the invitation tocommunicate with the caller via chat, then process 800 continues,following the connector labeled ‘B’, to step 840 (FIG. 8C) to initiatethe chat session.

Referring to FIG. 8C, step 840 involves the operator determining whetheror not the called party messaging client supports voice communications.If not, then a textual chat session is the only option for communicatingwith the called party and process 800 continues at step 850 wherein theoperator or the service provider system verifies how the ensuing chatsession will be billed, if applicable. As with other types of services,billing arrangements may include such arrangements as subscription,collect calling, prepaid calling, third-party pays, billing to creditcard, etc.

Once any necessary billing arrangements are made in step 850, then, instep 852, the operator causes the parties to be connected togetherthrough a two-way voice/text translator and billing, if applicable, isinitiated. This connection may be achieved in a manner described earlierin conjunction with FIG. 1 and FIG. 2B. After connecting in step 852,then process 800 proceeds, following the connector labeled ‘D’ todisengage the operator from the call in step 870. In this scenario, theVPS 103 may remain connected to the bridging switch and provide passthrough to IIX 125. Alternatively, IIX 125 may be assigned some ports onthe bridging switch and once the connection is made, the operator of VPS103 may be released from the call.

Returning to step 840, if the callee's messaging client is found tosupport voice communications, then process 800 continues execution withstep 842 wherein the operator asks the callee to select a voice-enabledchat session or a textual chat session.

In step 844, the callee's selection is determined and affects whether avoice session is established or textual chat session is established, thelatter via steps 850 and 852 as already described. If the callee selectsvoice-enabled chat in step 844, then process 800 proceeds with step 846to secure any necessary billing arrangements and then step 848 toestablish the voice chat connection. Referring to FIG. 1, thisconnection may involve, for example, one or more of VPS 103, bridgingswitch 54, VoIP gateway 131 and IP network 133. After making theconnection, process 800 proceeds, following the connector labeled ‘D’,to disengage the operator from the call in step 870.

Referring now to FIG. 8B, steps 820 through 832 relate to offering thecaller an option of placing a telephone call to the called party in lieuof the chat session the caller originally desired. This option may beavailable to some types of service providers who offer telephonyservices or have business arrangements through telephone serviceproviders.

In step 820, the operator offers the caller the option of trying toreach the called party by telephone, responsive to the previous attemptto chat with the called party having been unsuccessful.

In step 822, the caller's preference for a telephone call is determined.If the caller declines to try a telephone connection with the calledparty, then process 800 proceeds, following the connector labeled ‘C’,to explore other alternatives by which the caller might be able tocommunicate with the called party.

Otherwise, if, in step 822, the caller elects to try reaching the calledparty by phone, then, in step 824, the operator obtains information asto how the call is to be billed and then places the call to the calledparty.

In step 826, a determination is made as to whether or not the calleeanswers the phone and accepts any applicable charges, such as in acollect call scenario. If the called party, answers and otherwiseaccepts the call, then steps 832, 870 and 872 are performed to connectthe call and begin billing, if applicable, disconnect the operator fromthe call and conclude the processing of process 800 in fulfillment ofthe caller's request.

Returning to step 826, if the called party does not answer, or answersand declines the call from the operator, then in step 830, the operatorinforms the caller that the callee is unavailable by phone. Thereafter,process 800 proceeds, following the connector labeled ‘C’, to exploreother alternatives by which the caller might be able to communicate withthe called party.

With reference now to FIG. 8D, steps 860 through 866 relate todetermining if yet other alternatives may be offered to the caller forcommunicating with the called party. Such alternatives might includevoice mail, paging, e-mail transcription, etc.

In step 860, the operator examines other such possibilities based oncommunications alternatives available to the operator through system 103or based upon services for which the parties may be configured orsubscribed. If no alternatives are available then, in step 868, thecalled party is declared unreachable and the operator will likely notifythe caller that no further options remain. The session between callerand operator will then terminate, at least by the action of step 870,and then process 800 is concluded in step 872.

If at least one alternative is found available in step 860, then in step862, the operator offers such alternative(s) to the caller. In step 864,if the caller elects an alternative, then the operator connects thecaller to, or otherwise invokes, the alternative in step 866. In thecaller declines any remaining alternatives presented in step 862, thenthe decision step 864, bypasses step 866 and proceeds directly toterminate the call, perhaps after a “bye” from the operator. Once thecaller's selection is made in step 864 and any appropriate alternativeis invoked, then the operator is disconnected from the caller in step870 and then process 800 is concluded in step 872.

FIGS. 9A-9D describe a process 900 whereby a caller places a telephonecall directly to a desired called party and, when the call goesunanswered or is otherwise configured to receive alternative processing,the call is diverted to a voice processing system to offer the callermessaging and other alternatives by which to reach the same calledparty.

Process 900 begins with step 902 upon the system detecting or receivingindication that a telephone call has gone unanswered. It is alsoconceivable that another system, such as telephone network 80, maydetect the unanswered call and merely redirect the call to VPS 103.Methods by which a system may detect or be informed of a ‘no answer’event are known in the industry. This is evidenced among local exchangecarriers in the United States, such as Qwest CommunicationsInternational, Inc., who perform a feature whereby, when a telephonegoes unanswered after several rings, an automated voice prompt bridgesonto the line and offers, for a fee, to continue trying to reach thecalled party and to ring the caller's telephone when the called partyeventually answers. In the present discussion, an unanswered phone maybe due to a so-called “ring—no answer” event or a “line is busy” event.A telephone caller may also encounter a disconnected line, an “allcircuits busy” condition or other problems preventing the call frombeing completed. In any case, process 900 continues with step 904wherein the call is diverted to an operator within the service providersystem. In step 906, the operator greets the caller and offers to assistin reaching the party by other means, such as by a chat session. In step907, the operator explores available alternatives, based oncommunications alternatives available to the operator through system 103or based upon services for which the parties may be configured orsubscribed.

In step 908, it is determined whether, according to information gleanedin step 907, chat messaging is a viable possibility for reaching thecalled party. Chat messaging may be impermissible, for example, if thesystem requires either or both of the caller and called party to besubscribed users of such service and neither of them are subscribed. Ifchat is not an option, then process 900 continues, following theconnector labeled ‘C’, to step 960 of FIG. 9D to pursue other possiblecommunications options.

If the system requires either or both of the caller and called party tobe subscribed users of such service and neither of them are subscribed.If chat is not an option, then process 900 continues, following theconnector labeled ‘C’, to step 960 of FIG. 9D to pursue other possiblecommunications options.

Otherwise, if, in step 908, chat messaging is seemingly viable, thenprocess 900 continues, following the connector labeled ‘A’, to step 920to attempt to establish a chat session with the called party.

The remainder of process 900 as depicted in FIGS. 9B, 9C and 9D isessentially identical to corresponding steps depicted in FIGS. 7B, 7Cand 8D, respectively.

As will be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the relevantart, any of the functional elements, systems and processes depicted inFIGS. 1 through 9D may be implemented in various ways using, forexample, suitably equipped data processing systems or computingenvironments. Such implementations may comprise hardware, firmware,software, or combinations thereof, to accomplish intended functions inaccordance with the teachings of the present invention. For example, anyor all of voice processing system 103, billing system 123, intelligentinformation translator 125 and intelligent presence gateway 105, orfunctional subsystems depicted therein, may be implemented as processesin a program-controlled computing environment. Processes depicted inFIGS. 2A through 9D may be implemented wholly or partially as processingthreads occurring within a computer processor under software and/orfirmware control. A given process may be implemented in a distributedfashion among multiple physical processors or multiple logicalprocessing threads. A single processor may participate in implementingmultiple instances or multiple types of the processes shown. Any of thefunctions shown, or the hardware used to implement these functions, maybe distributed among remote locations or may be collocated.

It will also be appreciated that connectivity among elements forcarrying control signals, telephony-style signaling, bearer channelsignals and messaging traffic and the like, may be accomplished viacommunications through a network or a shared bus or shared memoryresources or by inter-process communications.

Even signals representing telephone audio signals may be conveyed toprocessing equipment in the form of data through a bus or network.Methods and devices for converting among analog audio signals anddigital data are well known and are not explicitly shown in FIG. 1,although it is common that telephone network 80 or VPS 103 are equippedto perform these conversions. Adaptation to external systems, such asthe PSTN as represented by telephone network 80, may be accomplished bythe use of well-known computer-telephony adapter cards (as those made byDialogic Communications Corporation), commercially available automaticcall distributors (ACDs) and Private Branch Exchange (PBX) equipment.

An exemplary arrangement of computing hardware suitable for implementingfunctional elements and processes in accordance with the presentinvention will now be described in conjunction with FIG. 6, although itshould be understood that aspects of the present invention may beembodied in other ways.

Hardware Overview

FIG. 6 illustrates a computer system 600 upon which an embodimentaccording to the present invention can be implemented. The computersystem 600 includes a bus 601 or other communication mechanism forcommunicating information and a processor 603 coupled to the bus 601 forprocessing information. The computer system 600 also includes mainmemory 605, such as a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamicstorage device, coupled to the bus 601 for storing information andinstructions to be executed by the processor 603. Main memory 605 canalso be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediateinformation during execution of instructions by the processor 603. Thecomputer system 600 may further include a read only memory (ROM) 607 orother static storage device coupled to the bus 601 for storing staticinformation and instructions for the processor 603. A storage device609, such as a magnetic disk or optical disk, is coupled to the bus 601for persistently storing information and instructions.

The computer system 600 may be coupled via the bus 601 to a display 611,such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal display, active matrixdisplay, or plasma display, for displaying information to a computeruser. An input device 613, such as a keyboard including alphanumeric andother keys, is coupled to the bus 601 for communicating information andcommand selections to the processor 603. Another type of user inputdevice is a cursor control 615, such as a mouse, a trackball, or cursordirection keys, for communicating direction information and commandselections to the processor 603 and for controlling cursor movement onthe display 611.

According to one embodiment of the invention, call processing isprovided by the computer system 600 in response to the processor 603executing an arrangement of instructions contained in main memory 605.Such instructions can be read into main memory 605 from anothercomputer-readable medium, such as the storage device 609. Execution ofthe arrangement of instructions contained in main memory 605 causes theprocessor 603 to perform the process steps in accordance with any or allof the processes described or implied herein. One or more processors ina multi-processing arrangement may also be employed to execute theinstructions contained in main memory 605. In alternative embodiments,hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination withsoftware instructions to implement the embodiment of the presentinvention. Thus, embodiments of the present invention are not limited toany specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

The computer system 600 also includes a communication interface 617coupled to bus 601. The communication interface 617 provides a two-waydata communication coupling to a network link 619 connected to a localnetwork 621. For example, the communication interface 617 may be adigital subscriber line (DSL) card or modem, an integrated servicesdigital network (ISDN) card, a cable modem, a telephone modem, or anyother communication interface to provide a data communication connectionto a corresponding type of communication line. As another example,communication interface 617 may be a local area network (LAN) card (e.g.for Ethernet™ or an Asynchronous Transfer Model (ATM) network) toprovide a data communication connection to a compatible LAN. Wirelesslinks can also be implemented. In any such implementation, communicationinterface 617 sends and receives electrical, electromagnetic, or opticalsignals that carry digital data streams representing various types ofinformation. Further, the communication interface 617 can includeperipheral interface devices, such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB)interface, a PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card InternationalAssociation) interface, etc. Although a single communication interface617 is depicted in FIG. 6, multiple communication interfaces can also beemployed.

The network link 619 typically provides data communication through oneor more networks to other data devices. For example, the network link619 may provide a connection through local network 621 to a hostcomputer 623, which has connectivity to a network 625 (e.g. a wide areanetwork (WAN) or the global packet data communication network nowcommonly referred to as the “Internet”) or to data equipment operated bya service provider. The local network 621 and the network 625 both useelectrical, electromagnetic, or optical signals to convey informationand instructions. The signals through the various networks and thesignals on the network link 619 and through the communication interface617, which communicate digital data with the computer system 600, areexemplary forms of carrier waves bearing the information andinstructions.

The computer system 600 can send messages and receive data, includingprogram code, through the network(s), the network link 619, and thecommunication interface 617. In the Internet example, a server (notshown) might transmit requested code belonging to an application programfor implementing an embodiment of the present invention through thenetwork 625, the local network 621 and the communication interface 617.The processor 603 may execute the transmitted code while being receivedand/or store the code in the storage device 609, or other non-volatilestorage for later execution. In this manner, the computer system 600 mayobtain application code in the form of a carrier wave.

The term “computer-readable medium” as used herein refers to any mediumthat participates in providing instructions to the processor 605 forexecution. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limitedto non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.Non-volatile media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks, suchas the storage device 609. Volatile media include dynamic memory, suchas main memory 605. Transmission media include coaxial cables, copperwire, and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise the bus 601.Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic, optical, orelectromagnetic waves, such as those generated during radio frequency(RF) and infrared (IR) data communications. Common forms ofcomputer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexibledisk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM,CDRW, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, opticalmark sheets, any other physical medium with patterns of holes or otheroptically recognizable indicia, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM,any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave, or any other mediumfrom which a computer can read.

Various forms of computer-readable media may be involved in providinginstructions to a processor for execution. For example, the instructionsfor carrying out at least part of the present invention may initially beborne on a magnetic disk of a remote computer. In such a scenario, theremote computer loads the instructions into main memory and sends theinstructions over a telephone line using a modem. A modem of a localcomputer system receives the data on the telephone line and uses aninfrared transmitter to convert the data to an infrared signal andtransmit the infrared signal to a portable computing device, such as apersonal digital assistant (PDA) or a laptop. An infrared detector onthe portable computing device receives the information and instructionsborne by the infrared signal and places the data on a bus. The busconveys the data to main memory, from which a processor retrieves andexecutes the instructions. The instructions received by main memory canoptionally be stored on storage device either before or after executionby processor.

For example, although aspects of the present invention have beendescribed with respect to computer systems executing software thatdirects the functions of the present invention, it should be understoodthat present invention may alternatively be implemented as a programproduct for use with a data processing system. Programs defining thefunctions of the present invention can be delivered to a data processingsystem via a variety of signal-bearing media, which include, withoutlimitation, non-rewritable storage media (e.g., CD-ROM), rewritablestorage media (e.g., a floppy diskette or hard disk drive), andcommunication media, such as digital and analog networks. It should beunderstood, therefore, that such signal-bearing media, when carrying orencoding computer readable instructions that direct the functions of thepresent invention, represent alternative embodiments of the presentinvention.

While the present invention has been described in connection with anumber of embodiments and implementations, the present invention is notso limited but covers various obvious modifications and equivalentarrangements, which fall within the purview of the appended claims.

1. A method of providing service in a communications system comprising:from a first party using a telephone device, receiving a request toestablish communications with a second party; from apresence-determining element, obtaining presence information related tothe availability of the second party to engage in communications whereinthe presence information is already maintained in thepresence-determining element before the receiving the request;responding to the request to establish communications with the secondparty responsive at least to the presence information by acting toestablish communications with the second party; and indicating, to abilling system, activity pertaining to the obtaining the presenceinformation.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the communicationscomprise instant messaging communications.
 3. The method of claim 1further comprising: determining billable usage of the system related tousage of the communication system by at least one of the first party andthe second party.
 4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:determining whether payment can be obtained for usage charges pertainingto the billable usage; and selectively performing the establishingcommunications between the first party and the second party responsiveat least to whether payment can be obtained for the usage charges. 5.The method of claim 1 wherein the communications comprise instantmessaging communications.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein thecommunications comprise communicating with an instant communicationsclient associated with the second party.
 7. The method of claim 6further comprising: causing audio information from the first party to betranslated into corresponding textual information communicated to theinstant communications client.
 8. The method of claim 6 furthercomprising: causing textual information from the instant communicationsclient to be translated into corresponding audio informationcommunicated to the first party.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein theacting to establish communications with the second party comprisescausing a communications network element to establish communicationsinvolving the second party.
 10. The method of claim 9 wherein thecommunications network element is a gateway.
 11. The method of claim 1further comprising: providing, to the presence-determining element, apresence identifier associated with the second party, wherein thepresence identifier specifies that presence information is sought forthe second party.
 12. The method of claim 11 wherein the presenceidentifier is a screen name associated with the instant communicationsclient by which the second party may be reached.
 13. The method of claim11 further comprising: obtaining the presence identifier from the firstparty.
 14. The method of claim 11 wherein the presence identifiercomprises at least one of: a screen name, a logical address, a physicaladdress, an electronic pseudonym, a chat identifier, an instantmessaging identifier, an alias, a telephone number, an email address, aphysical address, a uniform resource locator (URL), a universal resourceidentifier (URI), a given name and a personal identification number. 15.The method of claim 11 further comprising: from the first party,obtaining identifying information for identifying the second party; anddetermining the presence identifier corresponding to the identifyinginformation.
 16. The method of claim 15 further comprising: indicating,to the billing system, activity pertaining to the obtaining the presenceidentifier based on the identifying information.
 17. The method of claim15 wherein the identifying information comprises at least one of: ascreen name, a logical address, a physical address, an electronicpseudonym, a chat identifier, an instant messaging identifier, an alias,a telephone number, an email address, a uniform resource locator (URL),a universal resource identifier (URI), a given name and a personalidentification number.
 18. The method of claim 11 further comprising:obtaining from a capabilities-determining element information pertainingto the manner by which the first party may communicate with the secondparty.
 19. The method of claim 18 further comprising: providing to thecapabilities-determining element, a capabilities identifier associatedwith the second party.
 20. The method of claim 19 wherein thecapabilities identifier is the same as the presence identifier.
 21. Themethod of claim 1 further comprising: providing to the second party anidentifier associated with the first party.
 22. The method of claim 21wherein the identifier associated with the first party comprises atleast one of: a screen name, a logical address, a physical address, anelectronic pseudonym, a chat identifier, an instant messagingidentifier, an alias, a telephone number, an email address, a uniformresource locator (URL), a universal resource identifier (URI), a givenname and a personal identification number.
 23. The method of claim 21wherein the identifier associated with the first party is obtained fromthe first party.
 24. A voice processing system for providing service toparties in a communications system comprising: means for receiving, froma first party using a telephone device, a request to establishcommunications with a second party; means for obtaining, from apresence-determining element, presence information related to theavailability of the second party to engage in communications wherein thepresence information is already maintained in the presence-determiningelement before the receiving the request; means for responding to therequest to establish communications with the second party responsive atleast to the presence information; and a billing system interface forcommunicating, with a billing system, information about billable usageof the communications system pertaining to the obtaining of the presenceinformation.
 25. The voice processing system of claim 24 furthercomprising: means for determining whether payment can be obtained forusage charges pertaining to the billable usage, wherein the respondingto the request is selectively performed responsive at least to whetherpayment can be obtained for usage charges.
 26. The voice processingsystem of claim 24 wherein the communications with the second partyinvolve an instant communications client associated with the secondparty.
 27. The voice processing system of claim 26 further comprising:means for causing textual information from the instant communicationsclient to be translated into corresponding audio informationcommunicated to the first party.
 28. The voice processing system ofclaim 26 further comprising: means for causing audio information fromthe first party to be translated into corresponding textual informationcommunicated to the instant communications client.
 29. The voiceprocessing system of claim 24 further comprising: means for obtainingfrom a capabilities-determining element information pertaining to themanner by which the first party may communicate with the second party.30. The voice processing system of claim 24 further comprising: meansfor providing, to the presence-determining element, a presenceidentifier associated with the second party, wherein the presenceidentifier specifies that presence information is sought for the secondparty.
 31. The voice processing system of claim 30 further comprising:means for obtaining the presence identifier from the first party. 32.The voice processing system of claim 30 further comprising: means forobtaining, from the first party, identifying information for identifyingthe second party; and means for determining the presence identifiercorresponding to the identifying information.
 33. The voice processingsystem of claim 24 further comprising: providing to the second party anidentifier associated with the first party.
 34. The voice processingsystem of claim 33 wherein the identifier associated with the firstparty comprises at least one of: a screen name, a logical address, aphysical address, an electronic pseudonym, a chat identifier, an instantmessaging identifier, an alias, a telephone number, an email address, auniform resource locator (URL), a universal resource identifier (URI), agiven name and a personal identification number.
 35. The voiceprocessing system of claim 33 wherein the identifier associated with thefirst party is obtained from the first party.
 36. The computer readablemedium of claim 33 wherein the identifier associated with the firstparty comprises at least one of: a screen name, a logical address, aphysical address, an electronic pseudonym, a chat identifier, an instantmessaging identifier, an alias, a telephone number, an email address, auniform resource locator (URL), a universal resource identifier (URI), agiven name and a personal identification number.
 37. The computerreadable medium of claim 33 wherein the identifier associated with thefirst party is obtained from the first party.
 38. In a communicationsystem, a device acting to establish communications comprising: atelephony interface acting to communicate with a first party via atelephone call; an interactive response station acting to conduct aninteractive session with the first party via the telephone call; apresence interface acting to obtain presence information pertaining to asecond party; a bearer channel interface operably coupled to an instantcommunications client associated with the second party, the bearerchannel interface acting to establish communications between the firstand second parties responsive to at least one of the interactive sessionand the presence information; and a billing system interface forcommunicating, with a billing system, information about billable usageof the communications system pertaining to the obtaining of the presenceinformation.
 39. The device of claim 33 further comprising a networksignaling interface acting to coordinate with a network in establishingcommunications between the first and second parties.
 40. The device ofclaim 38 further comprising: means for determining whether payment canbe obtained for usage charges pertaining to the billable usage, whereinthe bearer channel interface acts to establish communications betweenthe first and second parties responsive at least to whether payment canbe obtained for the usage charges.
 41. In a communication system, adevice operable to establish communications comprising: telephonyinterface means for communicating with a first party via a telephonecall; interactive response means for conducting an interactive sessionwith the first party via the telephone call; presence determining meansfor obtaining presence information pertaining to a second party; bearerchannel interface means operably coupled to an instant communicationsclient associated with the second party, wherein the bearer channelinterface means establishes communications between the first and secondparties responsive to at least one of the interactive session and thepresence information; and a billing system interface for communicating,with a billing system, information about billable usage of thecommunications system pertaining to the obtaining of the presenceinformation.
 42. The device of claim 41 further comprising: means fordetermining whether payment can be obtained for usage charges pertainingto the billable usage, wherein the establishing communications betweenthe first party and the second party is selectively performed responsiveat least to whether payment can be obtained for usage charges.
 43. Thedevice of claim 41 further comprising: network signaling interface meansfor coordinating with a network in establishing communications betweenthe first and second parties.
 44. A voice processing system forproviding service to parties in a communications system comprising:means for receiving, from a first party using a telephone device, arequest to establish communications with a second party; means forobtaining, from a presence-determining element, presence informationrelated to the availability of the second party to engage incommunications using an instant communications client; means forresponding to the request to establish communications with the secondparty responsive at least to the presence information; and a billingsystem interface means for communicating, with a billing system,information about billable usage of the communications system pertainingto the obtaining of the presence information.
 45. The voice processingsystem of claim 44 further comprising: means for determining whetherpayment can be obtained for usage charges pertaining to the billableusage, wherein the responding to the request is selectively performedresponsive at least to whether payment can be obtained for usagecharges.
 46. The voice processing system of claim 44 further comprising:means for causing audio information from the first party to betranslated into corresponding textual information communicated to theinstant communications client.
 47. The voice processing system of claim44 further comprising: means for causing textual information from theinstant communications client to be translated into corresponding audioinformation communicated to the first party.
 48. The voice processingsystem of claim 44 further comprising: means for obtaining, from acapabilities-determining element, information pertaining to the mannerby which the first party may communicate with the second party.
 49. Thevoice processing system of claim 48 further comprising: means forproviding, to the capabilities-determining element, an identifier whichspecifies at least one of the first party and the second party for whichcapabilities information is sought from the capabilities determiningelement.
 50. The voice processing system of claim 44 further comprising:means for providing, to the presence-determining element, a presenceidentifier associated with the second party, wherein the presenceidentifier specifies that presence information is sought for the secondparty.
 51. The voice processing system of claim 50 further comprising:means for obtaining the presence identifier from the first party. 52.The voice processing system of claim 50 further comprising: means forobtaining, from the first party, identifying information for identifyingthe second party; and means for determining the presence identifiercorresponding to the identifying information.
 53. A method of providingservice in a communications system comprising: from a first party usinga telephone device, receiving a request to establish communications witha second party; from a presence-determining element, obtaining presenceinformation related to the availability of the second party to engage incommunications using an instant communications client; responding to therequest to establish communications with the second party responsive atleast to the presence information by acting to establish communicationswith the second party; and indicating, to a billing system, activitypertaining to the obtaining the presence information.
 54. The method ofclaim 53 wherein the communications comprise instant communications. 55.The method of claim 53 further comprising: determining billable usage ofthe system related to usage of the communication system by at least oneof the first party and the second party.
 56. The method of claim 55further comprising: determining whether payment can be obtained forusage charges pertaining to the billable usage; and selectivelyperforming the establishing communications between the first party andthe second party responsive at least to whether payment can be obtainedfor the usage charges.
 57. The method of claim 53 further comprising:causing audio information from the first party to be translated intocorresponding textual information communicated to the instantcommunications client.
 58. The method of claim 53 further comprising:causing textual information from the instant communications client to betranslated into corresponding audio information communicated to thefirst party.
 59. The method of claim 53 wherein the responding to therequest comprises causing a communications network element to establishcommunications involving the second party.
 60. The method of claim 59wherein the communications network element is a gateway.
 61. The methodof claim 53 further comprising: providing, to the presence-determiningelement, a presence identifier associated with the second party, whereinthe presence identifier specifies that presence information is soughtfor the second party.
 62. The method of claim 61 wherein the presenceidentifier is a screen name associated with the instant communicationsclient by which the second party may be reached.
 63. The method of claim61 further comprising: obtaining the presence identifier from the firstparty.
 64. The method of claim 61 wherein the presence identifiercomprises at least one of: a screen name, a logical address, a physicaladdress, an electronic pseudonym, a chat identifier, an instantmessaging identifier, an alias, a telephone number, an email address, auniform resource locator (URL), a universal resource identifier (URI), agiven name and a personal identification number.
 65. The method of claim61 further comprising: from the first party, obtaining identifyinginformation for identifying the second party; and determining thepresence identifier corresponding to the identifying information. 66.The method of claim 65 further comprising: indicating, to said billingsystem, activity pertaining to the obtaining the presence identifierbased on the identifying information.
 67. The method of claim 65 whereinthe identifying information comprises at least one of: a screen name, alogical address, a physical address, an electronic pseudonym, a chatidentifier, an instant messaging identifier, an alias, a telephonenumber, an email address, a uniform resource locator (URL), a universalresource identifier (URI), a given name and a personal identificationnumber.
 68. The method of claim 61 further comprising: obtaining from acapabilities-determining element information pertaining to the manner bywhich the first party may communicate with the second party.
 69. Themethod of claim 61 further comprising: providing to thecapabilities-determining element, a capabilities identifier associatedwith the second party.
 70. The method of claim 69 wherein thecapabilities identifier is the same as the presence identifier.
 71. Acomputer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed bya processor, perform a method for providing service to parties in acommunications system, the method comprising: receiving, from a firstparty using a telephone device, a request to establish communicationswith a second party; obtaining, from a presence-determining element,presence information related to the availability of the second party toengage in communications using an instant communications client;responding to the request to establish communications with the secondparty responsive at least to the presence information by acting toestablish communications between the first party and the second party;and indicating, to a billing system, activity pertaining to theobtaining of the presence information.
 72. The computer-readable mediumof claim 71 wherein the method further comprises: causing audioinformation from the first party to be translated into correspondingtextual information communicated to the instant communications client.73. The computer-readable medium of claim 72 wherein the method furthercomprises: indicating, to the billing system, activity pertaining to thecausing the audio information from the first party to be translated. 74.The computer-readable medium of claim 71 wherein the method furthercomprises: causing textual information from the instant communicationsclient to be translated into corresponding audio informationcommunicated to the first party.
 75. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 74 wherein the method further comprises: indicating, to thebilling system, activity pertaining to the causing the textualinformation from the instant communications client to be translated. 76.The computer-readable medium of claim 71 wherein the method furthercomprises: obtaining, from a capabilities-determining element,information pertaining to the manner by which the first party maycommunicate with the second party.
 77. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 71 wherein the method further comprises: providing, to thepresence-determining element, a presence identifier associated with thesecond party, wherein the presence identifier specifies that presenceinformation is sought for the second party.
 78. The computer-readablemedium of claim 77 wherein the method further comprises: obtaining thepresence identifier from the first party.
 79. The computer-readablemedium of claim 77 wherein the method further comprises: obtaining, fromthe first party, identifying information for identifying the secondparty; and determining the presence identifier corresponding to theidentifying information.
 80. The computer-readable medium of claim 77wherein the method further comprises: indicating, to the billing system,activity pertaining to the obtaining the presence identifier based onthe identifying information.
 81. A computer-readable medium comprisinginstructions which, when executed by a processor, perform a method ofproviding service to parties in a communications system, the methodcomprising: receiving, from a first party using a telephone device, arequest to establish communications with a second party; obtaining, froma presence-determining element, presence information related to theavailability of the second party to engage in communications wherein thepresence information is already maintained in the presence-determiningelement before the receiving the request; responding to the request toestablish communications with the second party responsive at least tothe presence information; and indicating, to a billing system, activitypertaining to the obtaining of the presence information.
 82. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 81 wherein the method furthercomprises: responsive to the request, acting to establish communicationsbetween the first party and the second party.
 83. The computer-readablemedium of claim 81 wherein the communications with the second partyinvolve an instant communications client associated with the secondparty.
 84. The computer-readable medium of claim 83 wherein the methodfurther comprises: causing textual information from the instantcommunications client to be translated into corresponding audioinformation communicated to the first party.
 85. The computer-readablemedium of claim 83 wherein the method further comprises: causing audioinformation from the first party to be translated into correspondingtextual information communicated to the instant communications client.86. The computer-readable medium of claim 81 wherein the method furthercomprises: obtaining from a capabilities-determining element informationpertaining to the manner by which the first party may communicate withthe second party.
 87. The computer-readable medium of claim 81 whereinthe method further comprises: providing, to the presence-determiningelement, a presence identifier associated with the second party, whereinthe presence identifier specifies that presence information is soughtfor the second party.
 88. The computer-readable medium of claim 87wherein the method further comprises: obtaining the presence identifierfrom the first party.
 89. The computer-readable medium of claim 81wherein the method further comprises: from the first party, obtainingidentifying information for identifying the second party; anddetermining the presence identifier corresponding to the identifyinginformation.
 90. The computer-readable medium of claim 89 wherein themethod further comprises: indicating, to the billing system, activitypertaining to the obtaining the presence identifier based on theidentifying information.
 91. The computer readable medium of claim 81wherein the method further comprises: providing to the second party anidentifier associated with the first party.